ABOUT THE COLLECTION
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
A SHORT HISTORY
WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS ARCHIVE?
The writers of this collection often resist the label, and are collectively defined by their focus on the interaction between the physical environment and human cultures.
The term “nature writer” comes with some baggage, immediately putting a frame around nature, and implicitly distancing people, including the nature writer, from it. For that reason, the writers of this collection often resist the label, and are collectively defined by their focus on the interaction between the physical environment and human cultures. In other words, they write about the community of nature, and the nature of community. They are creators of, created by, and observers of, human and natural communities.
Each of the writers has a unique angle of vision, but equally unique is the way they form a community of writers. Their mutually supporting friendships and literary dialogues are one model for a way of being in the world and appreciating what it is to be human, and to form communities, in the natural world.
Another unique feature of this community of writers is the way that they represent so many areas of enquiry, from the sciences to the humanities. They cross nearly every literary genre, that is, area of artistic endeavor and subject matter. They include popular science writers and scientists, novelists, historical fiction writers, poets, screenwriters, biologists, ecologists, documentarians, and science fiction writers.
Many have been published in Orion magazine, and many are studied by scholars in the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE). Like the writers themselves, the people who read their work and papers—students, teachers, researchers, seekers and curious souls in general—represent diverse communities from around the United States and the world.
The Sowell Collection Librarian is Dr. Diane Warner, assisted by Kristen Lloyd and Molly Lieb.
WHAT DOES THE ARCHIVE CONTAIN?
What’s an Achive?
Oxford Languages, the dictionary that Google uses, defines an archive as “a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.”
Archives are notable for offering primary sources, first-hand accounts of a topic—photographs, journals, and letters, for instance.
What’s the difference between an archive and a library?
For one thing, libraries are more likely to focus on secondary sources—printed matter and resources that interpret other sources.
It’s not uncommon for an archive to be held within a research library, which is the case with the Sowell Collection. Some archives have their own facilities where materials are stored and preserved, and a space for users to come look at them, often called a reading room.
Where does this archive live?
The Sowell Collection is housed and preserved in a building at Texas Tech University called the Special Collections Library in Lubbock, Texas. The Special Collections houses multiple archives, including the Sowell Collection. And it has a gorgeous reading room where visitors can conduct research in the Collection.
Situated at the tip of great plains in the llano estacado, the city of Lubbock perches on the high plains of Texas, on land that was taken from the Comanche, in a region with a unique natural and cultural history. Vineyards, playa lakes, canyons, and grasslands are all within the radius of the city. The birthplace of Buddy Holly, Natalie Maines (The Chicks), and Terry Allen, Lubbock is known as the “Music Crossroads of West Texas.”
Lubbock has its own airport, and Texas Tech is within a half-day’s drive of the Chihuahuan Desert, the Texas Hill Country, and the mountains of New Mexico.
What’s in this archive?
In a nutshell, the personal papers of around thirty “of the country’s most prominent writers on the natural world.” For purposes of an archive, “papers” covers a lot of things, including, for example:
- Correspondence
- Drafts of manuscripts
- Research notebooks
- Diaries and calendars
- Photographs
- Computer files
- Audiovisual materials
The writers of the collection cover many categories of writing. They include popular science writers and scientists, novelists, historical fiction writers, poets, screenwriters, biologists, ecologists, documentarians, and science fiction writers.
What’s a finding aid?
A finding aid is a guide that a researcher uses to find information in a collection. It gives a description of what’s contained within boxes and folders, and often lots of other information, like how the materials were acquired and can be used. To prepare for a trip to the Sowell Collection you can have a look at the Finding Aids to get a sense of the papers you might like to see in advance.
To search the finding aids all at once by using a search term, you can use our new search portal.
How was the archive created?
TBD
What’s different about this archive?
The term “nature writer” comes with some baggage, immediately putting a frame around nature, and implicitly distancing people, including the nature writer, from it. For that reason, the writers of this collection often resist the label, and are collectively defined by their focus on the interaction between the physical environment and human cultures. In other words, they write about the community of nature, and the nature of community. They are creators of, created by, and observers of, human and natural communities.
Each of the writers has a unique angle of vision, but equally unique is the way they form a community of writers. Their mutually supporting friendships and literary dialogues are one model for a way of being in the world and appreciating what it is to be human, and to form communities, in the natural world.
Another unique feature of this community of writers is the way that they represent so many areas of enquiry, from the sciences to the humanities.
Many have been published in Orion magazine, and many are studied by scholars in the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE). Like the writers themselves, the people who read their work and papers—students, teachers, researchers, seekers and curious souls in general—represent diverse communities from around the United States and the world.
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User Stories
Coming soon… meet some of the people who use the Sowell Collection through short video profiles.
EXPLORE THE COLLECTION
Discover the world’s most prominent writers on the natural world
Explore the Collection
The Sowell collection will take you through an archive of American authors deeply engaged with the nature of community, the conjunction of scientific and spiritual values, and the fragility of wilderness.