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CSAW’s Nall Lecture at WT to Feature Life of Overlooked Dust Bowl-Era Author
Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu
CANYON, Texas — The author whose work inspired both John Steinbeck and Kristin Hannah will be explored at an upcoming event from West Texas A&M University’s Center for the Study of the American West.
Dr. Iris Jamahl Dunkle will present “Shifting Focus: Sanora Babb and Reimagining the Dust Bowl” at 7 p.m. April 9 in Legacy Hall in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center in a presentation for CSAW’s Garry L. Nall endowed lecture series.
Admission is free.
During her eventful life, Sanora Babb took invaluable field notes and oral histories of migrant farmworkers during the Dust Bowl. That work was shared with Steinbeck, who made prodigious use of it for his 1939 masterwork “The Grapes of Wrath”; its runaway success forestalled Babb’s work on her own Dust Bowl novel, “Whose Names Are Unknown,” which eventually was published in 2004.
“She left New York with her book contract canceled,” Dunkle told Colorado Public Radio in 2025. “She couldn't write. She was devastated. She had spent a decade working on this book, and it was just thrown away.”
Her Dust Bowl scholarship—which eventually was featured in Ken Burns’ documentary and helped inspire Hannah’s “The Four Winds”—was only part of a long, fascinating life, as recounted in Dunkle’s “Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb,” published in 2024.
“Dunkle’s work reminds us of a truth that CSAW is dedicated to: there is always more to the story, and we are richer and better off knowing more,” said Dr. Alex Hunt, CSAW director, Regents Professor of English and Vincent-Haley Professor of Western Studies in the Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages in WT’s Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities. “Dunkle’s work on Sanora Babb will teach us a great deal about the Dust Bowl and the experience of common people who were ruined in those years. But even more, it will teach us about how the main story of the Dust Bowl, notably that so powerfully established in John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ hides a lot of truth. Sanora Babb is a name we should know, and Dunkle is the champion for this important Dust Bowl author.”
Dunkle, a poet as well as a nonfiction author, also wrote the biography “Charmain Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer” in 2020 and has several collections of poetry in print. An award-winning author, she specializes in delving into the often-overlooked lives of women in the American West.
Addressing regional challenges and making an impact throughout the region and beyond are key components of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign, which is now winding down, has raised more than $175 million.
About West Texas A&M University
A Regional Research University, West Texas A&M University is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.
Photo: Dr. Iris Jamahl Dunkle will present “Shifting Focus: Sanora Babb and Reimagining the Dust Bowl” at 7 p.m. April 9 in Legacy Hall in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center in a presentation for the Center for the Study of the American West's Garry L. Nall endowed lecture series. (Photo copyright Theresa Sawyer)
—WT—