Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: Eudora Alice Welty ( April 13 , 1909 â `` July 23 , 2001 ) was an award-winning American author who wrote short stories and novels about the American South .
Simplified: Eudora Alice Welty ( April 13 , 1909 â `` July 23 , 2001 ) was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South .