Events
When The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939, it became the prevailing narrative of the era. But it also halted publication of another novel, silencing a writer more intimately connected to Dust Bowl migrants. Enter Sanora Babb, the groundbreaking voice whose field notes and oral histories Steinbeck relied on for his novel. But this is not merely a tale of literary usurping; Babb’s impact was profound on her own merits. Her legacy features in Ken Burns’s documentary The Dust Bowl and inspired Kristin Hannah in The Four Winds. This biography reminds us that the stories we know—and who tells them—can change the way we remember history.
Author Iris Jamahl Dunkle engages with the Western myth of progress by exploring the complicated impact of agriculture and overpopulation. Through an ecofeminist lens, her writing challenges the predominantly male-centric narrative of the American West’s recorded history, delving into the often-overlooked lives of women.