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Texas literature isliterature about thehistory andculture ofTexas. It ranges broadly inliterary genres and dates from the time of thefirst European contact. Representative authors includeMary Austin Holley andKatherine Anne Porter.
The earliest works relating to Texas were written inSpanish and were primarily historical in nature. Authors and works include:[1]
The firstEnglish book which was solely about Texas wasTexas (1833) byMary Austin Holley, cousin ofStephen F. Austin. It was expanded in 1836 and retitledHistory of Texas.[1]
A later author in this period,John Crittenden Duval, was dubbed the "Father of Texas Literature" byJ. Frank Dobie. Duval wroteEarly Times in Texas (serial form, 1868–71; book, 1892) andAdventures of Big-Foot Wallace (1872).[1]
Fiction about Texas was written starting in the early 19th century and consisted primarily ofromantic historical novels. TheAlamo figured prominently in many of these works by authors such asAugusta Evans Wilson andJeremiah Clemens.[1]
Two seminal writers who wrote about Texas in the Western tradition areJ. Frank Dobie andWalter Prescott Webb. Other non-fiction writers about Texas includeTom (Thomas Calloway) Lea,Paul Horgan, andJ. Evetts Haley.[1]
One of the most notable early 20th century works of Texas fiction wasThe Log of a Cowboy (1903) byAndy Adams. It was written in response to the immensely popular novel byOwen Wister,The Virginian, which had been published a year earlier.[1]
Joseph A. Altsheler wrote a trilogy of Texas fiction in his seriesThe Texan Star (1912),The Texan Scouts (1913), andThe Texan Triumph (1913).
Noteworthy authors of the 1930s include Edward Anderson, whose novelThieves Like Us (1937) has been filmed twice:[1] first in 1949 byRKO Radio Pictures asThey Live by Night, later in 1974MGM/UA studios releasedThieves Like Us, directed byRobert Altman. This period also included the work ofpulp magazine authors, such asRobert E. Howard[2] andJim Thompson.[3]
Born in Indian Creek,Katherine Anne Porter is arguably the finest 20th century short-story writer from the state.[4] Her childhood home in Kyle was dedicated as a National Literary Landmark in 2002.[5]
Post-World War II authors of fictional accounts of Texas includeElmer Kelton andLarry McMurtry.[1]Cormac McCarthy[6] andGloria Anzaldúa[7] are contemporary writers whose work is set in the state.