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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Considered one of the world’s greatest writers, Cormac McCarthy is notoriously publicity shy. Now an extraordinary series of audio interviews with McCarthy has emerged, totaling nearly four hours of conversation. The recordings are from journalist Richard B. Woodward and have been acquired by The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, which holds McCarthy’s complete literary …
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Collections at Texas State University. The groundbreaking archive captures the faces and dignity of work of a bygone way of life. A recent interview event at The Wittliff celebrated and honored the photographer and coastal region rancher who documented them — Louise O’Connor. The photographs are large scale, colorful and vibrant, dominating the gallery in …
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The young Tejano singer onstage — clad in skintight black head-to-toe, hair dyed black in a short shiny pompadour and wearing big loop earrings — looks like she’s skipping or maybe doing a modern tango. She’s in flight, and the camera went click. In that moment, photographer Al Rendon caught the teenage Selena Quintanilla in …
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The iconic photograph of the legendary Vaughan Brothers – Jimmie and Stevie Ray – sitting on a couch, smiling, arms over each other’s shoulders and flanked by electric guitars was taken by Scott Van Osdol and Jeff Rowe in spring 1984. Perhaps no other photograph captures the public’s romanticized image of the blues guitarists in …
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In honor of Pride Month 2022, I wanted to give a behind-the-scenes look at the John Rechy papers which I’m currently processing. John Rechy is a native El Pasoan who is recognized as a pioneer LGBTQ author. In 1963 he published his landmark novel City of Night, a fictionalized account of his experiences as a …
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An all-star collection of 23 Texas writers along with an acclaimed artist gathered at the Wittliff Collections on Mother’s Day to celebrate a sparkling new literary anthology devoted to Texas Rivers. Viva Texas Rivers! Adventures, Misadventures & Glimpses of Nirvana Along Our Storied Waterways is collection of the best writing on the Lone Star State’s …
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You may not know his name, but you would recognize his cartoons of talking animals, talking pasta, kings, and corporate bosses. Over the course of his career, Charles Barsotti published more than 1,300 cartoons in The New Yorker and thousands more in other publications including USA TODAY, Parade, Playboy, Texas Monthly, an array of …
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The recent acquisition of a substantive Steve Ray Vaughan archive is the latest gem preserved at The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, home of more than 500 historic literary, photographic, film and music collections. The new SRV collection offers intimate insights into the life and career of the legendary guitarist in three distinct arenas: …
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