The Wittliff Collections

10/16/2026

This , Susannah Broyles, Metadata Archivist (3rd from left), and Fiona Zupke, Graduate Student (6th from left) from joined Alkek Library, Texas State University Special Collections staff for an Ask an Archivist panel to talk about careers, education, and preserving archival treasures!

10/15/2026

Celebrate with at our 2nd Annual Typewriter Event! Try out dozens of vintage typewriters provided by Austin Typewriter Ink, then turn your words into a one-of-a-kind zine. Cut, paste, color, collage, and create something that tells your story.

Impressions: Write it. Type it. Zine it.
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026 | 2:00-5:00 p.m.
The Wittliff Collections (Alkek Library at , 7th Floor)

10/14/2026

“I am stronger than I am broken.”
—Roxane Gay, from HUNGER: A MEMOIR OF (MY) BODY

🌟 Roxane Gay, Visiting Writer Event: Therese Kayser Lindsey Literary Series 🌟

EVENT DETAILS
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Reception: 3:00 p.m. | Reading: 3:30 p.m., The Wittliff Collections

WRITER BIO
Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best S*x Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity and once had a podcast, The Roxane Gay Agenda.

If you require accommodations due to a disability in order to participate, please contact (512) 245-2163 at least 72 hours in advance of the event.

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Special thanks to our event co-sponsors!
TXST Liberal Arts
Texas State History
Department of Philosophy TXST
Texas State Honors College
Center for the Study of the Southwest

10/12/2026

Here is Naomi Shihab Nye's draft of "Kindness" in one of her personal notebooks. Seeing a working manuscript in the poet's own hand offers a rare look at one of her most well-known works, which regularly appears on the Academy of American Poets' annual list of the most-read poems.

This notebook is part of our "40 Objects" exhibition celebrating 40 years of . Come see all 40 landmark items on your next visit!

10/10/2026

POV: You're Cormac McCarthy, carefully typing out a draft for your next best-selling novel.

From humble beginnings, this writing desk comes from the Tennessee home McCarthy built by hand early in his career—a converted dairy barn on rural land outside Knoxville. Working in a practical shelter stripped to essentials, he wrote through long stretches of solitude, sustained by discipline long before receiving widespread recognition.

Come see Cormac McCarthy's original desk in our "40 Objects" exhibition, celebrating 40 years of .

10/07/2026

Texas Monthly breaks down what makes Tracy Daugherty's new biography of Cormac McCarthy a must-read for Southwestern literature fans. We're proud to have hosted Daugherty in archives as he conducted the research behind this newly released portrait of McCarthy's life.

A new biography of Cormac McCarthy reveals the best and worst sides of the man behind so many compelling books.

10/07/2026

Home is where storytelling turns a space into a place you belong. All are welcome at .

10/06/2026

Selena retablo (2010), a painting on wood with metal by artist Marc Burckhardt, pays tribute to the icon through the tradition of a retablo, a Latin American devotional folk art form that uses saintly portraiture to honor revered figures.

This art was commissioned for the cover of Texas Monthly’s April 2010 issue. Burckhardt hand-painted the artwork and text on longleaf pine in just six days. He framed it in a hand-tooled tin sheath and included a white rose, her favorite flower, with a single falling petal to symbolize her tragic passing.

This original artwork and lots of other Selena memorabilia are on display in The Selena Effect exhibition at .

10/02/2026

Did you know that October is American Archives Month? Celebrate with at our 2nd Annual Typewriter Event! Try out dozens of vintage typewriters provided by Austin Typewriter Ink, then turn your words into a one-of-a-kind zine. Cut, paste, color, collage, and create something that tells your story.

Impressions: Write it. Type it. Zine it.
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026
2:00-5:00 p.m.
The Wittliff Collections (Alkek Library at , 7th Floor)

10/01/2026

"We created this exhibition, Wellspring: Icons of The Wittliff, to showcase the greatest writers, photographers, musicians, and filmmakers of Texas, the Southwest and Mexico." -Marise McDermott, Executive Director of The Wittliff Collections.

Behind every icon is a legacy that continues to resonate. These defining works bring the full depth of Southwestern storytelling to life. See them up close in the galleries at ; admission is free and open to everyone.