September 25, 2017, Filed Under: Authors, Books + ManuscriptsA nomad’s writing finds a home Q&A with Michael Ondaatje Michael Ondaatje began his career as a poet but is best known as the author of the 1992 Booker Prize-winning novel The English Patient, which was made into a critically-acclaimed motion picture. He was born in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) in 1943; he moved to Canada… read more
September 25, 2017, Filed Under: AuthorsArchive of Michael Ondaatje, author of “The English Patient,” acquired The archive of award-winning author Michael Ondaatje has been acquired by the Harry Ransom Center. Ondaatje, author of the Booker Prize-winning novel “The English Patient,” is widely regarded as one of the finest English-language novelists writing today.
July 17, 2017, Filed Under: Exhibitions + Events, Research + TeachingHelp us meet this year’s goal for a National Endowment for the Humanities challenge grant In 2010, The Chronicle of Higher Education noted, “No campus library in the U.S. mounts exhibitions to rival those of the University of Texas at Austin’s special-collection library, the Harry Ransom Center.”
July 5, 2017, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Exhibitions + EventsInstructions for reading aloud in the Gutenberg Bible As many readers of this blog will know, Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust’s Biblia latina (Mainz, 1454–1455) represents the first substantial book printed from moveable type on a printing press. Without question, it is a milestone in information technology. And yet, it is important to remember that
June 28, 2017, Filed Under: Authors, Books + Manuscripts, Research + TeachingThe computer poetry of J. M. Coetzee’s early programming career Writer J. M. Coetzee’s early poetry is almost undecipherable. That’s because it was written in computer code. Coetzee’s global reputation rests on his literary output, for which he received a Nobel Prize in 2003. Before he embarked on a career as a scholar and writer, the South African–born writer was… read more
June 20, 2017, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Research + TeachingThe textual “truth” behind Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried Explore the Harry Ransom Center, search digital collections, or plan your visit. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling. The book depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and… read more
