Sanora Babb

Sanora Babb (1907-2005), born in what is now Oklahoma, was the author of five books, as well as numerous essays, short stories, and poems that were published in literary magazines alongside the work of William Saroyan, Ralph Ellison, Katherne Anne Porter, and William Carlos Williams. As a native of Oklahoma's arid panhandle and a volunteer with the Farm Security Administration in Depression-era California, she brought an insider's knowledge and immediacy to her authentically compelling narratives. Her Dust Bowl novel, Whose Names Are Unknown, was featured in the Ken Burns documentary The Dust Bowl.