Winifred Sanford: The Life and Times of a Texas Writer

Betty Holland Wiesepape

Published by University of Texas Press 2013

Winifred Sanford

The Life and Times of a Texas Writer

Betty Holland Wiesepape

In the series Southwestern Writers Collection Series, Wittliff Collections at Texas State University

https://doi.org/10.7560/742963

Overview
Contents

About this book

Winifred Sanford is generally regarded by critics as one of the best and most important early twentieth-century Texas women writers, despite publishing only a handful of short stories before slipping into relative obscurity. First championed by her mentor, H. L. Mencken, and published in his magazine, The American Mercury, many of Sanford’s stories were set during the Texas oil boom of the 1920s and 1930s and offer a unique perspective on life in the boomtowns during that period. Four of her stories were included in The Best American Short Stories of 1926.

Questioning the sudden end to Sanford’s writing career, Wiesepape, a leading literary historian of Texas women writers, delved into the author’s previously unexamined private papers and emerged with an insightful and revealing study that sheds light on both Sanford’s abbreviated career and the domestic lives of women at the time. The first in-depth account of Sanford’s life and work, Wiesepape’s biography discusses Sanford’s fiction through the lens of the sociohistorical contexts that shaped and inspired it. In addition, Wiesepape has included two previously unpublished stories as well as eighteen previously unpublished letters to Sanford from Mencken.

Winifred Sanford is an illuminating biography of one of the state’s unsung literary jewels and an important and much-needed addition to the often overlooked field of Texas women’s writing.

Author / Editor information

A native Texan, Betty Holland Wiesepape taught creative writing and literature at the University of Texas at Dallas for twenty years, retiring in 2020. She is the author of Lone Star Chapters: The Story of Texas Literary Clubs, and contributed the title story to Let’s Hear It: Stories by Texas Women Writers.

Reviews

Winifred Sanford: The Life and Times of a Texas Writer is a well-researched and thorough account of Sanford’s life…If you are part of the ever-growing community of scholars who can’t help but puzzle over the shortage of women writers, especially Texas women writers, then this biography may be for you.

— Texas Books in Review

Wiesepape’s methodology in bridging Sanford’s private and public life proves to be highly effective, as she leaves few gaps in Sanford’s life unaccounted for.

— Great Plains Quarterly

One of the most exciting new contributions to the field of Texas women’s writing that has appeared in decades!

— Sylvia Grider, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER ON E : The Story Begins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
CHAPTER TWO: A Wonderful Time Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
CHAPTER THREE: Keeping House Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
CHAPTER FOUR : Difficult Adjustments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
CHAPTER FIVE : The American Mercury Adventure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
CHAPTER SIX: Plans, Pressures, and Expectations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
CHAPTER SEVEN: Unexpected Interruptions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
CHAPTER EIGHT: Pieces of the Puzzle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
CHAPTER NINE: One Story Ends and Another Begins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
A List of Winifred Sanford’s Publications Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
A List of Winifred Sanford’s Unpublished Stories and Novels Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
APPENDIX A: Letters Exchanged Between Winifred Sanford and the Editors of The American Mercury Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
APPENDIX B: Lagniappe: Two Unpublished Stories by Winifred Sanford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
APPENDIX C: Two Nonfi ction Articles for Writers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	164
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 208
Illustrations
- Other: 10 b&w photos

eBook

Published: January 2, 2013
ISBN: 9780292742970