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Karle Wilson Baker was Texas's most celebrated poet in the first half of the twentieth century. Born in Arkansas in 1878, Baker followed her parents to Nacogdoches in her early twenties. She soon fell under the spell of her adopted state, writing about the role of Texans in the American drama. In her novel Family Style, she portrays the impact of the East Texas oil boom on a single, small community. Another novel, Star of the Wilderness, is set against the backdrop of the Texas Revolution. But Baker was best known for her poetry. Her collection of poems Dreamers on Horseback was nominated for the 1931 Pulitzer Prize. Writer Dorothy Scarborough praised Baker's attention to the details of ordinary lives, describing her as the "singer of quiet things." More»