movement pseudonym birth_place influences nationality notableworks name birth_date period signature genre image article_title birth_name occupation
southern gothic harper lee monroeville , alabama , u.s. truman capote , william faulkner american '' to kill a mockingbird '' harper lee 28 april 1926 1960 & ndash ; present harper lee signature.svg literature and fiction harper lee nov07.jpg harper lee
 nelle harper lee novelist
harper lee

nelle harper lee -lrb- born april 28 , 1926 -rrb- is an american novelist widely known for her 1960 pulitzer prize -- winning novel , `` to kill a mockingbird '' , which deals with the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the deep south of the 1930s , as seen through the eyes of two children .
the novel was inspired by the racist attitudes she observed as a child in her hometown of monroeville , alabama .
though lee published only this single book for half a century , she was awarded the presidential medal of freedom for her contribution to literature .
lee has received numerous honorary degrees , and declined to speak on each occasion .
lee assisted close friend truman capote in his research for the book `` in cold blood '' -lrb- 1966 -rrb- .
in february 2015 , aged 88 , after a lifetime of maintaining that she would never publish another novel , lee 's lawyer released a statement confirming publication of a second novel , `` go set a watchman '' , a novel written in the mid 1950s and which served as the first draft of `` to kill a mockingbird '' .
the book was released in july 2015 .
