The Harry Ransom Center at UT Austin today announced two impressive acquisitions to its already massive collection: letters from cherished American playwright Tennessee Williams and equally cherished American novelist John Steinbeck....

In tandem with its current exhibit, "On the Road with the Beats," the Harry Ransom Center is presenting a month-long Beat Film Series at the Alamo Ritz....

The Harry Ransom Center is not exactly known for its parties. No beverages, pens, or even white paper are allowed in their reading room. We have to give them credit for this event, however, It's unorthodox, it's ambitious, it has just the right alchemy between '50's-era jazzbo "hipsters" and the modern-day sort, and it might end up being the most amazing literary event in Austin this year....

Accompanying the current exhibition at the Harry Ransom Center, Beat Voices delves further into the doings of Peter Orlovsky, Diane di Prima, William S. Burroughs, and Alfred Leslie. The production's four brief plays run Sat-Sun @1 & 3pm until the exhibition closes on August 3. // The rock opera Speeding Motorcycle at Zach Scott Theater is based on the work of Daniel Johnston and tells the tale of Joe the Boxer's unrequited love for an undertaker's girlfriend. We're betting it won't disappoint. Through March 23, Thu-Sat @8pm / Sun @2:30pm....

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Austinist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. UT's Harry Ransom Center, finding out if you're a Beatnik. Elsewares, where you can get a 10% off your order with the discount code "ist". Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on......

Haven't had enough of Valentine's Day yet? Ever secretly wanted to take a date to the Harry Ransom Center, but went for $2 Tecates at some hipster dive instead? This Friday, for one night only, the HRC is heading to the Eastside, celebrating love, the birth of hip, and the "starving, hysterical, naked" visions of the Beat Generation. Sounds hot....

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Austinist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. UT's Harry Ransom Center, finding out if you're a Beatnik. Elsewares, where you can get a 10% off your order with the discount code "ist". Busted Tees, selling a special shirt to honor the New England Patriots. If you're interested......

Playwright and filmmaker David Mamet will appear at UT's Hogg Auditorium on Monday, February 4th for a discussion of his work with the Austin Chronicle's Robert Faires. The event is the first of several appearances by Mamet at UT in conjunction with the acquisition of his archives by the Harry Ransom Center....

Score one more for the acquisitions team at the Harry Ransom Center. Yesterday morning, the UT facility announced that it had purchased the papers of Tim O'Brien, American novelist and resident of Central Texas. O'Brien teaches at Texas State University in San Marcos....

Image from Arthur Miller Collection, Harry Ransom Center Rehearsing the American Dream: Arthur Miller’s TheatreSeptember 4 - December 30Harry Ransom Center (21st & Guadaloupe)free, hours vary[info]Sometimes we think we could spend a lifetime sorting through the treasure trove of historical documents and materials in the Harry Ransom Center. From the Gutenberg Bible to the Watergate papers, from the first-ever photograph to love poems written by Ernest Hemingway from the trenches of World War I, the......

Usually, street closures around the Capitol hail the arrival of one of Austin's many street festivals, where you can listen to a wishy-washy blues-rocker do his best to channel Stevie Ray Vaughn while you eat a turkey leg amongst a sea of fanny-packed families and homemade jewelry vendors. But once a year it means it's Texas Book Festival time. As literary events go in this town, it is the big one. For two days......

As far as ghosts and ghoulies go, we know that Austin has spooky entertainment options coming out the yin-yang, not to mention the standard trick-or-treating action. However, it has been brought to our attention that it is no longer socially acceptable for 20 to 30-somethings to beg candy off their neighbors (we have no shame), and our sexy bumblebee/sexy heart surgeon/sexy bottle of pepto bismol costumes are looking a little shabby this season. So......

You probably know by now that perennial badass Robert De Niro donated his complete collection of film-related materials to the Harry Ransom Center in 2006, including annotated scripts and research materials from his character studies (that's right, De Niro is totally an anthropologist.) One of the main reasons De Niro chose the acclaimed University of Texas vault-of-goodness that is the Harry Ransom Center is because he knew that the materials would be available for students......

On Thursday, a scholar named Randolph Lewis, of the University of Oklahoma, comes to the Harry Ransom Center to speak. Resolved: The recent explosion of documentary film has not helped the genre at all, instead causing it to conform to televisual norms, and pushing its filmmakers to use less "literary imagination" in their creative processes. We guess that means that in order to get on board with this argument, you kind of have to believe......

If, like us, you thought that Marie Antoinette might have been a hell of a lot better as a silent movie, consider Orphans of the Storm (1921), screening tonight for free at the Harry Ransom Center as part of the Silent Silver Screens Series. Starring the lovely and incandescent Gish sisters (that's Lillian on the left and Dorothy there on the right), Orphans follows the odyssey of devoted French sisters Henriette and Louise. When......

We're always trying to extol the value of having the Harry Ransom Center right here in town. They keep so many valuable treasures safe, yet make them readily available to the Austin community. Who else is going to keep your authentic Raging Bull boxing trunks so "just-off De Niro" fresh for an eternity? Well, it was only a matter of time before the HRC got mad props from New York's poshest periodical: The New Yorker.......

THURSDAY [24] theatre • Rubber Repertory presents A Thought in Three Parts at The Vortex (8pm) music • Emissions From the Monolith Fest at Emo's music • Small Stars, Sounds Under Radio at Stubb's music • DJ Qbert, DJ Craze, DJ Klever, Table Manners Crew at The Parish music • Winovino, Bourbon Legends, Jett Mullens, Jaime Thomas at Beerland music • Morrissey Pre-Party with Andy Rourke! at The Mohawk music • Gulf of Mexico,......

We were excited to find out that we no longer have to rely on walking our dog by at night to see the inside of those cool old houses near Duval St. because this Saturday, they will be open to the public as part of the Heritage Society of Austin’s 15th Annual Homes Tour. This year’s theme is “Duval Street in the 20’s,” and six of those beauties will be part of a walking......

Well, not really, but with the release of a commemorative book, two major acquisitions and the climax of the amazing American 20's exhibit, April was a huge month for the Ransom Center. On April 1st, to commemorate the first 50 years of its existence, the Ransom Center released Collecting the Imagination: The First 50 Years of the Ransom Center. Just a few weeks later, they secured roughly 100 boxes of written materials from playwright and......

THURSDAY [3] film • Austin Film Festival screens "The Ballad of A.J Weberman" at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek (7:30pm Free/$4 Members/General) art • West End Gallery Night at Participating Galleries (Until 8pm) art • Blanton Museum of Art Public Tour: An Introduction to Prints at Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress (7-8pm) books • Book Release Party: Collecting the Imagination: The First Fifty Years of the Ransom Center at The Harry Ransom Center (7:00pm)......

WEDNESDAY [2] DJ • The Black (DJ Set), Gerald Cosloy at Scoot Inn (10pm, Free) books • Poetry on the Plaza: The Book of Poetry at The Harry Ransom Center (12noon) books • Jeffrey Greene presents Water From Stone at BookPeople (7:00pm) dance • Stomp at The Paramount Theatre exhibition • UT Department of Theatre & Dance's Annual Design and Technology Exhibition at Oscar G. Brockett Theatre, Winship Drama Building (9am) film • "Plagues and......

The Harry Ransom Center at UT is announcing today that they have acquired the archives of American playwright David Mamet. These archives include journals, manuscripts and drafts of each of the acclaimed writer's plays and screenplays. David Mamet, writer of such works as "Glengarry Glen Ross", The Untouchables, and Wag the Dog, will also come to UT for a series of short residencies over the next four years. In a letter to the Ransom Center......

WEDNESDAY [18] lecture • KLRU's SPARK Series Welcomes Douglas Rushkoff at The Paramount (7:30pm, Tickets are HALF OFF from Noon-7:30pm!) benefit/film • Friends of the Festival Anniversary Celebration (Cine Las Americas) at 2308 Fortune Drive ($100, 6-9pm) books • Poetry on the Plaza: Living Poets at The Harry Ransom Center (12 Noon) books • The Intimacies Group with Karen Kreps at BookPeople (7:00pm) books • Stephanie Elizondo Griest presents 100 Places Every Woman Should......

MONDAY [16] film • "The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico" at Alamo Downtown books • Teen Sci-Fi writers Scott Westerfield and Justine Larbalestier at BookPeople (7:00pm) books • The Harlem Renaissance, a panel discussion with Cary D. Wintz, Martha Jane Nadell, and Shirley Thompson at The Harry Ransom Center (7:00pm) film • "A Clockwork Orange" at Alamo Downtown film • Jim Jarmusch's "Down By Law" at Alamo Village food • Central Market......

Note: Several weekend events will be added in the afternoon. THURSDAY [5] fashion/music/party • Car Stereo (Wars), Visuals by Super!Alright!, and 30-40% Everything at Strut (6-10pm) film • "Military Intelligence and You" at Alamo Drafthouse Lakecreek (7:30pm) art •Opening Reception for Aki Nagasaka's "Yellow Labyrinth" at Women and Their Work (6-8pm) books •Pam Oslie presents Love Colors at BookPeople (7:00pm) books •Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht presents "In 1926: Why and How?" at The Harry Ransom......

FRIDAY [30] music • The Skeletons at South Austin Speedshop (7pm) fashion/music • Couture de Amore with fashions by Loves, Mariessa; Stiletto Gold; Sea and Enemies; Amy Kline (Jewelry), and Clap!Clap!, Golden Bear, Haunting Oboe Music, The Valentines at The Parish Room ($10) music • Video/CD release for "The Projeckt" at Latitude 30 music • Bluebonnet Blues Festival, benefitting Historic Main Street Association of Marble Falls, at Marble Falls music • 3rd Annual Global......

THURSDAY [29] theatre •Yellow Tape Construction Company presents I Am Not Tartuffe at play! Theatre (8pm) theatre •The City Theatre Company presents The Boys Next Door at The City Theatre (8pm) theatre •Ohio Trip, a "slide show adventure" by Elizabeth Cobbe at Women & Their Work Gallery (7:30pm) theatre •The Vortex presents Hamlet at The Vortex (8pm) theatre •Hyde Park Theatre presents Zell Miller III's My Child, My Child, My Alien Child at Hyde......

The University of Texas Creative Writing Program has a reputation for scoring amazing, talented writers and poets as visiting professors. The good news for the average Austinite is that these "visitors" will usually give a public reading at some point during their semester-long stay. Tonight poet and UT visiting professor Jill Alexander Essbaum will be busting rhymes -for free!- in the Harry Ransom Center's Tom Lea Rooms. A former Austin resident currently sporting a Swiss......