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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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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(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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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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We were saddened to hear of the passing of Al Dressen on July 22, 2023. We remember Al not only for being an accomplished musician, but also for his establishment of the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame Archive at The Wittliff in 1994. Al’s commitment to Western Swing and the celebration of the music, …
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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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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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By David Coleman, Director of The Wittliff Collections When Bill and Sally Wittliff created the Southwestern Writers Collection back in 1986, Bill asked, “How better to feel the very Heartbeat of Texas?” The Wittliff’s recent special event featuring Robert Earl Keen was a testament to their vision. Keen proved he is as Texas as bluebonnets. …
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By Katie Salzmann The Wittliff celebrates all forms of storytelling from the region, and we collect, preserve, and provide contextualization for important cultural objects. Within the archive of noted New Mexico historian Marc Simmons are several kachina dolls gifted to Marc from members of the Hopi tribe. This past semester, we hosted an internship that …
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The Wittliff Collections celebrates the brand-new book in its literary series, Sassy Mamas and Other Plays, with a special exhibition highlighting the acclaimed Houston playwright Celeste Bedford Walker. One of Texas’s major literary figures, Walker has authored more than forty stage plays that include bawdy comedies, searing historical dramas, a murder mystery and more. She …
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