The Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World

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Texas Tech's Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, home of the James Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community and the Natural World Sowellbuilding-4.jpg
Texas Tech's Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, home of the James Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community and the Natural World

The Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World, housed in Texas Tech University's Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library in Lubbock, Texas, preserves the journals, drafts, correspondence, ephemera, born-digital and audio visual media of 28 American writers on the natural world. Selected portions of the collection may be viewed online and in person. [1] According to a census of Collection finding aids available from the Texas Archival Resources Online, [2] there are currently around 1340 linear feet of processed materials in the Collection, including ephemera documenting its own history. [3]

Contents

History

Texas Tech University's Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World began with discussions with Barry Lopez and other contributors in 1998. [4] The first papers were acquired and processed in 2000, and as early as 2001 Texas Tech Libraries hosted a reading by a Sowell Collection author. [5] The Collection has been open to researchers since at least 2007, [6] and open to the public since 2012. The University hosts an annual conference for the Collection. [7] Underwritten by former Texas Tech University Regent James Sowell, [8] the Collection holds papers, manuscripts, photography, and art from 28 creators, and continues to acquire materials from new and existing writers. Acquisitions from the 2020s include the papers of Stephen Graham Jones, J. Drew Lanham, and Barbara Ras. The authors in the collection have received recognitions such as The National Book Award and include MacArthur and Stegner Fellows. [8] Many of the Collection's early writers have ties to the Orion Society and attended Orion magazine's seminal Fire & Grit conference in June 1999. [9] Additionally, the Collection's supporters, users, and contributors over the years have included members of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment and the Western Literature Association, among other organizations. [6]

Collection writers

Supporting papers and collections

These papers and collections housed at Texas Tech are also related to The Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World by affinity or history but not part of its core holdings:

Related Research Articles

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David James Duncan is an American novelist and essayist, best known for his two bestselling novels, The River Why (1983) and The Brothers K (1992). Both novels received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers award; The Brothers K was a New York Times Notable Book in 1992 and won a Best Books Award from the American Library Association.

Doug Peacock American author, filmmaker, wildlife activist, and Vietnam War veteran

Doug Peacock—born April 5th, 1942—is an American author, filmmaker, wildlife activist, and Vietnam War veteran. He is best known for his work dedicated to grizzly bear recovery in the lower-48, his book Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness and serving as the model for the well-known character George Washington Hayduke in Edward Abbey's novel The Monkey Wrench Gang. Doug is the co-founder of several conservation organizations including Round River Conservation Studies and Save The Yellowstone Grizzly.

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Stephen Graham Jones Native American fiction author

Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfoot Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction, crime fiction, and science fiction. Although his recent work is often classified as horror, he is celebrated for applying more "literary" stylings to a variety of speculative genres, as well as his prolificness, having published 22 books under the age of 50. 31.5 linear feet of Jones' works are held in the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World, part of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University.

David Quammen American science and nature writer

David Quammen is an American science, nature, and travel writer and the author of fifteen books. His articles have appeared in Outside Magazine, National Geographic, Harper's, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, and other periodicals.

Rick Bass American writer

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National Wind Institute

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History of Texas Tech University

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References

  1. "Texas Tech University :: Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library". swco.ttu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  2. "Texas Archival Resources Online". txarchives.org. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  3. "Texas Archival Resources Online". txarchives.org. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  4. Caswell, Kurt (2015). "Introduction". Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. 22 (2): 369–384. ISSN   1076-0962.
  5. "Texas Tech libraries to host author readings". Odessa American. 10 Nov 2001. p. 3.
  6. 1 2 "Front matter". Western American Literature. 42, no. 2: 7. Summer 2007.
  7. Loyd, Kristin. "Guides: The James Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community and the Natural World: Home". guides.library.ttu.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  8. 1 2 "Sowell Collection". Poets & Writers. 2012-02-04. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  9. "Orion Magazine – Fire and Grit Virtual Reunion Welcome". Orion Magazine. Retrieved 2022-02-08.