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The career and achievements of acclaimed author and ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ alumnus Joe Coomer will be celebrated in a retrospective exhibition opening March 21 at ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½’s DeGolyer Library.

“Joe Coomer: A Life in Letters” explores Coomer’s creative process using handwritten drafts, manuscripts, galleys, letters, first editions, translations and other materials drawn from the literary archive he recently donated to DeGolyer Library. The gift of more than 20 boxes of materials includes essays and stories, tests, a transcript and other papers from his time as an undergraduate in ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½’s creative writing program. He graduated in 1981.

Known for his graceful prose and memorable characters, Coomer has published eight works of fiction, two non-fiction books and one collection of poetry. His writing has been praised by The Boston Globe as “fresh and authentic” and as “compelling” and a “genuine pleasure” by The New York Times.

“Joe Coomer is one of the great voices to emerge from ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½’s English department and creative writing program,” says Russell L. Martin III ’78, ’86, DeGolyer director. “We are honored and delighted to have his papers, where they will join our growing collection of the archives of other contemporary writers. It is also fitting, during ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½’s centennial, that we recognize our own.”

The exhibit opening coincides with ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ Literary Festival, an esteemed event in the writing community and one of the reasons Coomer cites for choosing to attend ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½. He plans to be in the audience for readings by poet Matt Olzmann and novelist Debra Spark Thursday evening at the library.

A 30th anniversary edition of Coomer’s debut novel, The Decatur Road: A Novel of the Appalachian Hill Country, will be published by DeGolyer Library in conjunction with the exhibit. He will sign copies and talk about his work at a reception and lecture April 18 as part of the ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ Founders’ Day weekend. The event will begin at 6 p.m. at the library and will be free and open to the public.

First published in 1983, the book won the Jesse A. Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Arts and Letters in 1984. He started writing the book as an ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ student. “I wrote three of the short segments for an independent study with Marsh [Terry]. He liked them, so after I graduated, I wrote 55 more,” Coomer says.

Terry ’53, ’54, who retired in 2007 as the E. A. Lilly Professor of English, founded the creative writing program and the ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ Literary Festival and became Coomer’s mentor and friend.

“Joe Coomer transferred into ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ and came to my office in Dallas Hall and asked, ‘Are you the writing teacher?’ I nodded my head and did my best, and Joe turned out to be the leader of our nationally celebrated ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ Literary Festival. John Updike and Raymond Carver heard him read at the festival and were impressed,” Terry recalls.

“I am happy his collection of books and papers will be part of the permanent collection,” says Terry. “Much will be learned as we study those unique ledgers in which Joe brings to life his wonderful characters.”

By his own account, Coomer first arrived on the Hilltop as a rough draft of the successful writer he would become. In the essay “He Sang at Me: Marshall Terry, the ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ English Department, and One Writer’s Beginnings,” he describes a life-changing University experience and the indelible impact of a professor who urged him to find his voice as a writer, to “become himself”:

“Some say it’s impossible for one person to teach another to write. I know I fell in love with writing during my stay at the ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ English department, wanting to be like the people who worked there. Marsh took the time to encourage me. As far as I’m concerned, he used his whole life to encourage me.”

Copies of the essay, a version of which was published in ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ Magazine in fall 2006, will be available at the exhibit.

The Joe Coomer retrospective is among several significant library exhibits and events planned this year to showcase the University’s special collections. In 2013, as part of its Second Century Celebration, ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ is commemorating the Year of the Library — celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the University’s first library, the appointment of its first librarian and the acquisition of its first books.

“Joe Coomer: A Life in Letters”, March 21-May 24, is free and open to the public. DeGolyer Library hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. It is located at 6404 Robert S. Hyer Lane (formerly known as Hilltop Lane) on the ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ campus. For more information, please contact DeGolyer Library at 214-768-0829.