Conversations with Texas Writers

Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2005. BV3 - A first edition (stated) hardcover book SIGNED by Sarah Bird, Elizabeth Crook, Mylene Dressler, James L. Haley, Stephen Harrigan, Joe R. Lansdale, Naomi Shihab Nye, Karen Olsson, on their respective page in very good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has some scattered stains, some wrinkling on the edges, light tanning and shelf wear. Book has some bumped corners, light discoloration and shelf wear. Photographs by Ramona Cearley, Introduction and Essays by Joe Holley. Conversations with Wendy Barker, Sarah Bird, Jay Brandon, Bobby Byrd, Lee Byrd, Viola Canales, Gary Cartwright, Paul Christensen, J. California Cooper, Elizabeth Crook, Angela De Hoyos, Mylene Dressler, Horton Foote, Kinky Friedman, Laura Furman, Dagoberto Gilb, William H. Goetzmann, John Graves, James L. Haley, Stephen Harrigan, Jim Hightower, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, Edward Hirsch, Robert E. Howard, Molly Ivins, Mary Karr, Elmer Kelton, Joe R. Lansdale, David Lindsey, Arturo Longoria, Phillip Lopate, James Magnuson, Larry McMurtry, Pat Mora, Frances Nail, Naomi Shihab Nye, Karen Olsson, Louis Sachar, Edwin "Bud" Shrake, Evan Smith, Bruce Sterling, Katherine Tanney, Lorenzo Thomas, Lori Aurelia Williams, Mary Willis Walker, Bill Wittliff, Lawrence Wright, Sharon Wyse, Suzan Zeder. Number 16, Jack and Doris SMothers Series in Texas History, Life, and Culture. 9.5"x6.5", 422 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Larry McMurtry declares, "Texas itself doesn't have anything to do with why I write. It never did." Horton Foote, on the other hand, says, "I've just never had a desire to write about any place else." In between those figurative bookends are hundreds of other writers - some internationally recognized, others just becoming known - who draw inspiration and often subject matter from the unique places and people that are Texas. To give everyone who is interested in Texas writing a representative sampling of the breadth and vitality of the state's current literary production, this volume features conversations with fifty of Texas's most notable established writers and emerging talents. The writers included here work in a wide variety of genres - novels, short stories, poetry, plays, screenplays, essays, nonfiction, and magazine journalism. In their conversations with interviewers from the Writers' League of Texas and other authors' organizations, the writers speak of their apprenticeships, literary influences, working habits, connections with their readers, and the domestic and public events that have shaped their writing. Accompanying the interviews are excerpts from the writers' work, as well as their photographs, biographies, and bibliographies. Joe Holley's introductory essay - an overview of Texas writing from Cabeza de Vaca's 1542 Relación to the work of today's generation of writers, who are equally at home in Hollywood as in Texas - provides the necessary context to appreciate such a diverse collection of literary voices.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.