Tom Pilkington

Tom Pilkington was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up on a farm south of Fort Worth. He holds a B. A. degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and M. A. and Ph. D. degrees from Texas Christian University. He taught at Southwest Texas State University and Texas Christian University before joining Tarleton State University's Department of English and Languages in 1969. Dr. Pilkington is author or editor of thirteen books, including My Blood's Country: Studies in Southwestern Literature (1973), Critical Essays on the Western American Novel (1981), Careless Weeds: Six Texas Novellas (1993), and, most recently, State of Mind: Texas Literature and Culture (1998). He has published many articles as well, in both scholarly journals and popular magazines, and is a regular book reviewer for the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle newspapers. He is general editor of the Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities series, published by Texas A & M University Press, and co-editor of the Southwest Life and Letters series, published by Southern Methodist University Press. In addition, he serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Western American Literature. He is a former president of the Western Literature Association and is an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters and one of the organization's Councillors. Dr. Pilkington was appointed University Scholar in 1990 and was named Regents Professor in 2000.