Category: Literature

Articles and information about The Wittliff’s Southwestern Writers Collection.

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Surprise discovery brings “True Grit” Author’s Archive to The Wittliff Collections

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The Wittliff Collections have acquired the archive of literary legend Charles Portis, whose personal papers were discovered in a hidden cache two years after the author’s death. The self-effacing Portis, an Arkansas native who died in 2020 at age 86, avoided publicity and kept a low profile during his lifetime. Yet his five acclaimed novels, …

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The Wittliff acquires the Archive of Renowned Writer Benjamín Alire Sáenz

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The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University have acquired the complete archive of internationally acclaimed writer Benjamín Alire Sáenz. A major literary voice from the US-Mexico borderlands, Sáenz is the author of nearly 30 books and his works have been published in 25 languages worldwide. Sáenz, who lives and works in El Paso, has said, …

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Wittliff Acquires Large Texana Research Collection

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Longtime Texas writer Mike Cox, author of more than 40 nonfiction books, has donated his extensive Texana research files to the Texas State University’s Wittliff Collections. Amassed over sixty years, the material consists of 1,000-plus file folders that cover numerous aspects of Texas people, places, folklore and history. The files also include notes, correspondence and …

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Drawing Inspiration: A Q&A with artist, John Rocco

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Calling all Percy Jackson fans and lovers of beautiful book illustration alike! The Wittliff Collections is proud to celebrate artist/illustrator, John Rocco, in a new exhibit, Illustrating the Odyssey: Book Art for Rick Riordan’s Mythic Worlds. On display are 17 original signed and numbered prints by Rocco that were published as cover art and illustrations …

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Percy Jackson and Mythic World-building

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 By Katie Salzmann   Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians young adult book series centers around a 12-year old dyslexic hero who discovers he is the modern-day son of a Greek god. The Lightning Thief, the first book in the series, was published in 2005 and quickly became an international best-seller, translated into dozens …

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Vintage Keystone: writers on writing RICK RIORDAN

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(Originally published in the Fall 2010 edition of The Keystone) RICK RIORDAN is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series for children and the multi award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults. The Percy Jackson series features a twelve-year-old dyslexic boy who discovers he is the modern-day …

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‘Gypsy Songman’ now an eBook

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By Hector Saldaña   He was a gypsy songman passin’ by. His whole life was a song.   Amid the excitement of the major new exhibit at The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University in San Marcos celebrating Jerry Jeff Walker’s landmark 1973 album “¡Viva Terlingua!” and the buzz around the all-star concerts at Luckenbach …

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New Audiobook Celebrates Famed Texas Author J. Frank Dobie

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The spirit of legendary Texas storyteller J. Frank Dobie comes alive in a brand-new audible version of The Essential J. Frank Dobie, narrated by popular radio personality W.F. Strong, host of “Stories From Texas” on The Texas Standard.   This treasury of Dobie’s best writings recalls a bygone age when a crackling campfire could conjure up …

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New Wittliff exhibit explores life on the edge of death

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Surveying The Wittliff’s rich literary archives, this new exhibition, I Pray You Stay Alive: Writing on the Edge, explores how our best writers have personally confronted life-or-death situations: war and murder, race riots and civil rights, perilous migrant journeys, sexual assault, domestic abuse, hate crimes, cancer, mass shootings and a pandemic. “So many of these …

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