Rose Cahalan
By Rose Cahalan:
‘Seadrift’ Dredges Up a Little-Known—and Deeply Disturbing—Texas Story
Strangest State: This Month in Gator News…
Plus: a matchmaking scam, a thief’s Beto O’Rourke cover story, and a footlong shrimp.
POLK COUNTY // An alligator stopped traffic while it lounged on a highway near Lake Livingston. KFDM reports that the gator was so comfortable, Texas Parks and Wildlife officials resorted to using “large towing straps” to remove it from the … Read More
Announcing the Ninth Annual Texas Observer Short Story Contest
We want your stories!
Fernando A. Flores used to hate the Texas Observer Short Story Contest. Year after year, he diligently entered his writing in the contest, and year after year, he lost — about five times, he recalls. “It was actually the bane … Read More
Strangest State: May 2019
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
ATASCOCITA // A man tested the limits of Petco’s “all leashed pets allowed” policy by walking his 1,600-pound steer into the store. A Facebook video shows Shelly Lumpkin leading Oliver, a 14-year-old Ankole-Watusi, through the sliding doors as the steer … Read More
A Bold, Playful San Antonio Art Exhibit Celebrates Chicana Leaders
Through a series of colorful screenprints, “Estampas Chicanas” attempts to center the role of women in the movement for Mexican American civil rights.
Walk into the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, and you’ll have to do a little searching to find the “Estampas Chicanas” exhibit. Pass the flashy main attraction — gleaming classic cars paired with paintings of similar hues — and … Read More
Fearless and Funny, Molly Ivins Comes to Life in ‘Raise Hell’
If only she were around today.
I learned within my first day at the Texas Observer that Molly Ivins looms large over this place. Literally, two sizeable black-and-white photos of her hang above the water cooler. Every time I rummage in the storage cabinet for a … Read More
Elizabeth McCracken’s ‘Bowlaway’ Spins a Dark, Magical Tale of Love, Loss and Bowling
The Austin author is mostly concerned with pain: how we inflict it on each other, and how we keep going, year after year, as our burdens pile up.
“They found a body in the Salford Cemetery, but aboveground and alive.” That thunderbolt of a sentence opens Elizabeth McCracken’s new novel, Bowlaway, and sets the tone for what’s to follow: a story equal parts sorrow and wonder, magical realism … Read More
Strangest State: February 2019
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
Drue Wagner WICHITA FALLS // A woman was banned from Walmart after drinking wine from a Pringles can while astride an electric shopping cart. The Wichita Falls Times-Record-News reports that when a police officer arrived at the store around 9 … Read More
Plight at the Museum
The best Texas history museum you’ve never heard of is staring down a financial crisis. Will it survive?
Plight at the Museum The best Texas history museum you’ve never heard of is staring down a financial crisis. Will it survive? – by Rose Cahalan January 7, 2019 “Let me show you some of my favorite things,” says … Read More
The Texas Observer’s Best Features of 2018
Our favorite longreads of the year.
The Texas Observer’s Best Features of 2018 Our favorite longreads of the year. – by Rose Cahalan and Forrest Wilder December 26, 2018 Like children, it’s always dangerous to pick one’s favorite stories. They’re all special and an editor’s affection … Read More
