Professor finds heart in Texas pioneer diaries

Amy Wink

Amy Wink combines her love of writing and history in her upcoming book, ‘Their Hearts’ Confidante,’ based on the diaries of two pioneer women.

A sixth-generation Texan, Adjunct English Professor Amy Wink, Ph.D., has always had an interest in history – whether it’s her family tree or the diaries of Texas pioneers.

Wink has sent the manuscript of her second book to the University of Tennessee Press. Entitled “Their Hearts’ Confidante: The Diaries of Henrietta Baker Embree and Tennessee Keys Embree, 1856-1884,” the book examines diaries of two married women during Civil War times in Belton, Texas.

“They’re very compelling,” Wink says of the diaries, which relate the women’s struggles during their marriages to the same man, Dr. John Embree. (Tennessee wed Embree after Henrietta’s death.)

Wink’s fascination with women in history began in graduate school at Texas A&M University, where she wrote her dissertation on 19th century women’s diaries. Her first book, “She Left Nothing in Particular: The Autobiographical Legacy of 19th Century Women’s Diaries,” also centers on the subject.

She hopes her latest book – which she researched for 10 years – will spark the interest of people who are studying literature, or those who enjoy reading diaries.

“But they may also be interested because of the Civil War or Texas history,” she says.

Wink hopes the book will be published sometime this year. In the meantime, she continues to teach American Literature and English Composition at Austin Community College and is working on her next project, a collection of personal essays.

“It’s kind of exploring the inner life of a professor,” she says. “I have probably 15 essays prepared that I think will work into a nice collection.”

You won’t need to wait 10 years for this one, however. She hopes to have it completed by the end of this year.

Click here for more information on Wink and her works.

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