Texas authors shine in this roundup of awards and accolades from across the literary world. We’re shouting praise from the rooftops for the vibrant Texas literary community.
Author Awards and Accolades:
Alexa Aston placed first in the Historical Romance category of the 2025 Carolyn Readers’ Choice Award for The Duke’s Unexpected Love.
Tracy Daugherty won the Bonney MacDonald Award for Outstanding Western Book at West Texas A&M University for his book Larry McMurtry: A Life.
James R. Dennis received the 2025 Gold Award in the Poetry category of the IBPA Book Awards for his collection Songs of Seven Days.
Blas Falconer won the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry from Publishing Triangle Awards for his work Rara Avis.
Dagoberto Gilb won the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay for his work “A Passing West.”
Margaret Izard's books won various Spring 2025 Bookfest Awards–Stone of Lust won 1st place Romance/Science Fiction, 2nd place romance/paranormal. Thistle in the Mistletoe won 1st place romance/holiday.
Dr. Peniel Joseph has been named as the recipient of the 2025 Texas Writer Award by the Texas Book Festival.
Preston Lewis won the Literary Global Children’s Book Award in the Historical Nonfiction category for his work Pintsized Pioneers. Additionally, the book was a finalist for Best Cover Design-Nonfiction and Best Young Adult categories.
One of Elizabeth Ludwig’s books from the series Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries will come to life in a new movie titled Blessings in Disguise. The film, a blending of two books from the series, premiered on April 20.
Ocatvio Quintanilla was named Texas Poet Laureate by the Texas legislature. His term will last from May 2025 to June 2026.
Sarairis Slusser won the Children’s Inspirational/Motivational category of the 2025 International Impact Book Awards for her debut title Crossing Borders, Finding Home.
Jonny Garza Villa won the Jacqueline Woodson award for LGBTQ+ Young Adult and Children’s Literature award from Publishing Triangle for his book Canto Contigo.
Dana Wayne won the Romance: General category of the American Legacy Book Awards for Texas Winds.
Cheryl Brown Wattley won first place in the Political and Social Sciences category of the 2024 Foreword INDIES for her book Desire to Serve.
Finalists:
PEN America Literary Award Finalists
PEN Open Book Award–The Blueprint by Rae Giana Rashad
PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay–A Passing West by Dagoberto Gilb
PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography–The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby
Reading the West Awards Shortlist
Fiction–
The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate
Debut Fiction–
The Turtle House by Amanda Churchill
Malas by Marcela Fuentes
The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez
Poetry–
Texas, Being: A State of Poems edited by Jenny Browne
[ . . . ] by Fady Joudah
Memoir/Biography
We Were Illegal by Jessica Goudeau
Magical Realism by Vanessa Angelica Villarreal
Picture Books
Tamales for Christmas by Stephen Briseño, illustrated by Sonia Sánchez
Wild at Heart by Evan Griffith, illustrated by Anna Bron
Free to Learn by Cynthia Levinson, illustrated by Mirelle Ortega
Young Readers
The Secret Language of Birds by Lynne Kelly
On a Wing and a Tear by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Fantasy Novel
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
Horror Novel
House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias
The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
Young Adult Novel
Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee
Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger
Short Story
“Partenogenesis” by Stephen Graham Jones
2025 Holt Medallion Award Finalists
Historical
A Wallflower Never Surrenders and Snowbound with the Scoundrel by Courtney McCaskill
Long Inspirational
Cloaked in Beauty and If the Boot Fits by Karen Witemeyer
Unforgiven and Unforgotten by Shelley Shepard Gray
Speculative Romance
The Games Gods Play and The Shadows Rule All by Abigail Owen
Other Finalists:
Ian Griffin was a finalist in the Cross-Genre Fiction category of the American Legacy Awards for The Widow’s Savior.
Attica Locke is on the short list for the KAA Gold Dagger Award from the Crime Writers Association for her book Guide Me Home.
