Hampton Sides has made his mark in the literary world writing books of narrative history that bring to life the events and characters of another time.
Sides, the author of acclaimed books such as "The Wide Wide Sea," "Blood and Thunder" and others, will speak at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Royal Theater at 113 E. Main St. in Archer City, according to a media release from the Archer City Writers Workshop. The event is open to the public and free of charge.
Sides will speak about the joys and challenges of crafting narrative history, and also the perils of writing about epic figures from the past such as Capt. James Cook ("The Wide Wide Sea") and explorer and frontiersman Kit Carson ("Blood and Thunder").
"Though widely considered heroic in their time, they've become controversial today," Sides said.
Earlier this year, "The Wide Wide Sea" was named one of the top 10 books of 2024 by The New York Times. Sides will sign books, which will be sold at the event.
This isn't Sides' first trip to the hometown of Larry McMurtry. He accompanied George Getschow, director of the Larry McMurtry Literary Center, when Getschow taught a literary journalism class for the University of North Texas about 15 years ago.
"It's such a pleasure to be coming back to this funky old stomping ground that, despite its isolation (and maybe because of it) has been a place of so much literary ferment," Sides said. "I'm excited to be a part of the creative efforts that are now afoot to celebrate the work of Larry McMurtry and to build upon his legacy to inspire future generations."
Sides has written for such periodicals as National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Esquire, Outside Magazine, Men's Journal, The American Scholar, Smithsonian and The Washington Post. His magazine work, collected in numerous published anthologies, has been twice nominated for National Magazine Awards for feature writing.
A native of Memphis and a Yale graduate, Sides is a board member of the Society of American Historians and the Author's Guild, and he was a Miller Distinguished Scholar at the Santa Fe Institute. He has been a resident fellow at Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Aspen Institute, the Ucross Foundation and Stanford University. He has an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Colorado College.
The nonprofit Archer City Writers Workshop recently purchased McMurtry's bookstore in Archer City. It will become the Larry McMurtry Literary Center and celebrate the life and legacy of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. In addition to honoring McMurtry, the LMLC aims to bring authors such as Sides to Archer City to attract literary tourism.
While in Archer City, Sides will also speak to participants in the narrative workshop sponsored by the ACWW, which will be led by authors Kim Cross and Glenn Stout. The latest books by Cross ("In Light of All Darkness") and Stout ("Young Woman and the Sea") will also be available for sale.
For more information about the event, visit the Larry McMurtry Literary Center webpage.