Texas State Acquires McCarthy Archives

Associated Press

Texas State University acquires Cormac McCarthy archives

SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Southwestern Writers Collection at Texas State University-San Marcos has paid $2 million (euro1.34 million) for the archives of novelist Cormac McCarthy, author of the novel "No Country for Old Men" and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

McCarthy, 74, is widely considered one of America's best writers for his lyrical but violent tales, many of which are set in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.

He was awarded a Pulitzer for his 2006 novel, "The Road," and in 1992 won the National Book Award for "All the Pretty Horses." "No Country for Old Men," published in 2005, was the basis for a recent movie.

Texas State said the archives include correspondence, notes, drafts and proofs of his 11 novels. There is also a draft of an unfinished novel and materials related to a play and four screenplays. The center hopes to open the archives to the public in the fall.

The papers could offer rare insight on an author who has given few interviews over the past four decades.

Individual and foundation support supplemented university funding for the $2 million (euro1.34 million) purchase, officials said.

Bill Wittliff, an Austin screenwriter and photographer who co-founded the collection in 1982, helped negotiate the deal.

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