Our spectacular Texas authors have harvested a stellar crop of appointments, achievements, and awards since our last roundup. Read on! 

APPOINTMENTS 

ire'ne lara silva has been named 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate by Texas Commission on the Arts. Inducted as a member of the Texas Institute of Letters in 2020, she has won numerous awards and grants for her work and has been published in The New York Times, Texas Highways Magazine, Pleiades, Apogee, and more. 

AWARDS 

The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association’s 33rd Reading the West Book Awards were announced, and Texas represented well with three of the nine winners having Texas connections: 

Editors of Texas Monthly for THE BIG TEXAS COOKBOOK 

Patrice Barton, illustrator of BRAVE EVERY DAY 

Rex Ogle for ABUELA, DON’T FORGET ME 

Marlene M. Bell won a Bronze IPPY award from the Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Regional Fiction category for COPPER WATERS. Conducted annually, the Independent Publisher Book Awards honor the year's best independently published titles from around the world. 

Diann Floyd Boehm recently received Mom's Choice Awards for her books A TIME TO FLY and CHARLIE AND THE TIRE SWING. Chosen by a panel of expert evaluators, the Mom’s Choice Awards shine a light on “items that help families grow emotionally, physically, and spiritually.”  

Jodi Hadlock’s THE LIVES OF DIAMOND BESSIE won a Goethe Book Award for Post-1750s Historical Fiction from Chanticleer International Book Awards, which recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works. 

James Hannibal garnered a 2023 Selah Award in Mystery and Suspense for ELYSIUM TIDE. The awards are sponsored by the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. 

Gabino Iglesias received the 2022 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel from the Horror Writer’s Association for THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME. His novel has also been named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Harper's Bazaar, Chicago Tribune, Vulture, Oprah Daily, CrimeReads, and The Millions. 

Jeff Lanier received 1st Place for Fiction in the IndieReader Discovery Awards for his book FOR THE MINDS AND WILLS OF MEN. 

C.W. Smith is the Gold Medal winner in West-Mountain -- Best Regional Fiction category from the Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY awards) for his novel, GIRL FLEES CIRCUS. 

Sergio Troncoso, editor of NEPANTLA FAMILIAS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MEXICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE ON FAMILIES IN BETWEEN WORLDS (Texas A&M University Press), won the Bronze IPPY Award for Anthologies in the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Texas author contributors include: David Dorado Romo, Domingo Martinez, Oscar Cásares, Sheryl Luna, José Antonio Rodríguez, Deborah Paredez, Diana López, Severo Perez, Octavio Solis, ire'ne lara silva, Rubén Degollado, Daniel Chacón, Matt Mendez 

AWARDS FINALISTS 

Donnaldson Brown’s BECAUSE I LOVED YOU is a 2023 finalist in the international Next Generation Indie Book Awards for fiction. 

Rubén Degollado’s THE FAMILY IZQUIERDO was longlisted for the 2023 Pen/Faulkner Award. The author also received the Editor’s Choice from Craft Literary in the Creative Nonfiction Award category for “Tatuajes.”  

Thomas McNeely’s PICTURES OF THE SHARK was named a finalist in the Foreword INDIES  for Literary Fiction. Over 100 librarians and booksellers judge the Indies to discover the best in independent publishing. The book was also a finalist in the Massachusetts Book Awards  and a Houston Chronicle Notable Book of 2022.  

The 2023 Will Rogers Medallion Award has announced its finalists, and winners will be announced in October, 2023 in Fort Worth. Several Texas authors have titles that are in the running for awards, including:  

Barbara Brannon—BAD BLESSINGS: POEMS AND IMAGES OF THE TEXAN PERSUASION 

Patrick Dearen—THE END OF NOWHERE 

K.S. Jones—CHANGE OF FORTUNE 

Preston Lewis (in 3 categories!)—RIO HONDO, OUTLAW WEST OF THE PECOS, & “There’ll Be a Caterwauling in the Old Town Tonight” 

Chris Mullen—ROWDY: DEAD OR ALIVE 

Karen Witemeyer—IN HONOR’S DEFENSE 

Reavis Wortham—THE TEXAS JOB