In observance of its thirtieth anniversary, Humanities Texas, formerly the Texas Council for the Humanities, is honored to present this volume of interviews with fifty Texas authors. These conversations document the breadth and vitality of current Texas writing while providing extraordinary reflections on writers' lives, choice of subjects, and connections to their real and imagined audiences. The interviews also reveal the influences that have shaped writers' careers, including a fascinating thread of literary inspiration that Texas writers such as J. Frank Dobie and Américo Paredes passed down to succeeding generations.

This book has its genesis in "Texas Writers," one of three humanities exhibitions devoted wholly or in part to Texas authors. Joe Holley's introductory essay was written to accompany the exhibition, and Ramona Cearley's compelling photographs, which depict the authors in their informal settings, were also prominent features of the exhibition.

The selection of writers originated with the exhibition but was not confined to it. Joe Holley and colleagues at the Texas Institute of Letters identified authors to represent the many varieties of literature favored by Texas readers. Our broad definition of "Texas writers" encompasses authors who were born in Texas, as well as those who have lived in Texas for a few years and have produced works during, or as a result of, their tenure in the state.

Any collection of this nature invites questions about the inclusion of some authors and the omission of others. While many fine writers escaped our grasp, usually because time schedules prevented their participation, others were inevitably overlooked. Even so, a remarkable number of the state's leading writers participated in this endeavor. If the present volume finds a receptive audience, a subsequent book will attempt to fill the gap and include an even broader representation of authors.

Texas writers are as varied as the state's landscape, and this volume offers an enchanting glimpse of the state's literary riches. These conversations between people who share a passion for the written word create a tapestry of literary influences—of bright threads that gleam in surprising places. Poet Edward Hirsch states that when he moved to Houston in 1986, he suffered a shock of transition that inspired his poems about Georgia O'Keeffe's coming to terms with the landscape of the Texas Panhandle. But, he observes, the Texas experience extends beyond the western; in its diversity and combination of cultures, Texas has become a radically American place. It is this radical new Texas with its new voices, as well as the traditional Texas of the twentieth century, that shapes this book.

—Frances Leonard