Writers’ League of Texas Presents: Texas Tales

James Wade and Ashley Whitaker offer two vivid portraits of Texas through coming-of-age stories that unfold in vastly different landscapes. In Narrow the Road, Wade follows young William Carter as he journeys through 1930s East Texas to reunite his family, crossing paths with bootleggers, medicine shows, and outlaws in a richly drawn landscape of danger and devotion. In Bitter Texas Honey, Whitaker introduces Joan West, a sharp, self-contradicting writer adrift in 2011 Austin, who navigates political tension, addiction, and artistic longing while using the chaos around her as inspiration for her novel.