TIL award categories for publication year of 2007

TIL AWARDS FOR 2008 for the Publication Year of 2007

http://texasinstituteofletters.org/TIL_AWARDS_FOR_2008.pdf

From this OLD press release, folks can generally expect the same categories for the current year's crop of books.  At this url you can find the folks who are on the various committees for the just past judging year, and the new deadline would of course be in January 2009 for the coming year's awards.  Please consult TIL for current information for books in the publication year of 2008.

The press release for the past year read:

 

The Texas Institute of Letters has issued its call for entries for the best works published in 2007 in twelve categories. Prizes totaling $22,000 will be awarded by the organization at its 2008 annual meeting.

 

Deadline for entries is January 16, 2008.

Entries must be sent directly to the judges at the addresses listed below. Entries must be accompanied by a statement of the entrant's eligibility: birth in Texas or two years consecutive residence in the state at some time. A work whose subject matter substantially concerns Texas is also eligible.

 

Categories and judges are as follows:

 

Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Nonfiction ($5,000):

Felix Almaraz, chair, 323 Inspiration Dr., San Antonio, TX 78228

Kerry Grombacker, 812 N. Carrollton Ave., New Orleans, LA 70119

Robert Weddle, 1181 County Road 1535, Bonham, TX 75418.

 

Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction ($6,000) and Steven Turner Award for Best

Work of First Fiction ($1,000):

Robert Flynn, chair, 101 Cliffside Dr., San Antonio, TX 78231

David Searcy, 5606 Boca Raton Dr., Dallas, TX 75230

Cindy Bonner, 1802 N. Vine St., Victoria, TX 78746.

 

TIL Award for Most Significant Scholarly Book ($2,500):

Andres Tijerina, chair, Austin Community College, Pinnacle Campus, 7748 Hwy. 290 W., Austin, TX 78736-3202

Ron Tyler, 5536 Collinwood Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76107.

Pete Gunter, 225 Jagoe, Denton, TX 76201

 

Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Best Book of Poetry ($1,000):

Wendy Barker, chair, 302 Fawn Dr., San Antonio, TX 78231-1519

Willard Spigelman, English Dept., Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275

Chris Ellery, 2661 Yale Ave, San Angelo, TX 76904.

 

Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation of a Book ($1,000): This award will not be given until 2009 for books published in 2007 and 2008.

 

Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story ($750):

Neal Barret Jr., 2102 Toulouse Dr., Austin, TX 78748

Kate Lehrer, 3556 Macomb NW, Washington, D.C. 20016

Charles (Chip) Dameron, 4853 Lakeway Dr., Brownsville, TX 78520.

 

O. Henry Award for Best Work of Magazine Journalism ($1,000):

Mike Cox, chair, 3301 Big Bend Dr., Austin, TX 78731

A.W. (Bill) Gray, 9654 Fallbrook Dr., Dallas, TX 75243

Bill Sloan, 3603 Urban Ave, Dallas, TX 75227.

 

Friends of the Austin Public Library Award for Best Children's Book ($500) and for Best

Young Adult Book ($500):

Prudence Mackintosh, chair, 3312 Beverly Dr., Dallas, TX 75205

Paula Marks, 104 Vireo Dr., Buda, TX 78610

Tim Tingle, 4417 Morningside Way, Canyon Lake, TX 78133.

 

Fred Whitehead Award for Best Design of a Trade Book ($750):

Carol Dawson, chair, 4010 Crescent Dr., Austin, TX 78722

Tom Dodge, 302 Stiles Dr., Midlothian, TX 76065

Jim Hornfischer, 2528 Tanglewood Tr., Austin, TX 78703

 

John Bloom Humor Award for the Funniest Texas Book ($1,000) (for books published in 2006

and 2007):

Tom Pilkington, chair, Tarleton State University, P.O. Box T-0300, Stephenville, TX 76402

John Taliaferro, 1113 Elm St., Austin, TX 78703

Fritz Lanham, P.O. Box 801182, Houston, TX 77280.

 

Stanley Walker Award for Best Work of Newspaper Journalism Appearing in Newspaper or

Sunday Supplement ($1,000):

Dick J. Reavis, chair, 3606 Clark Ave., Raleigh, NC 27607

Kent Biffle, 511 Carriage Trail, Rockwall, TX 75087

Glenn Dromgoole, 1833 S. 11th St., Abilene, TX 79602.

Texas Tech Museum Certified Curatorially

Texas Historical Commission awards Texas Tech museum curatorial certification

By Marlena Hartz | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Story last updated at 7/1/2008 - 3:59 am

The local resting place of roughly 3 million objects, including some of the earliest known spear points of North Americans, has earned special state approval as a safe house for valuable, public artifacts, a state official announced Monday.

The Museum of Texas Tech University has earned a curatorial facility certificate from the Texas Historical Commission, its chairman said.

 

The commission established the certificate program in 2006 to ensure the proper care and management of millions of artifacts collected on state land.

Read more http://lubbockonline.com/stories/070108/loc_298005207.shtml

Portal to Texas History Awarded

Portal to Texas History receives NEH honor
Posted by: Mellina Stucky

The National Endowment for the Humanities has selected UNT's Portal to Texas History as one of the best online resources for education in the humanities and is linking to the portal from its EDSITEment web site, which is designed to help teachers, students and parents find high-quality material in the humanities online. The portal is one of about 60 sites chosen for inclusion from more than 200 sites nominated last year.

"The portal staff is thrilled about receiving this honor," says Dreanna Belden, the libraries' coordinator for grants and development who works primarily with digital projects. "This recognition speaks directly to the high quality of lesson plans being created by the portal team."

 

Read more about it at http://inhouse.unt.edu/index.cfm?CommentID=2811

Arte Publico - KUHF Radio Partnership

In Houston, Arte Publico, possibly the largest American publisher of Hispanic books, is teaming with KUHF radio station to give a focus of APP's "Author of the Month." So far three have been selected

Carlos Cisneros - July

Gwendlyn Zepeda - June

Javier O. Huerta - May

Alicia Gaspar de Alba - April

Eric Landau will be providing interviews to which surfers listen.

http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-arte_publico.php

Tejas Star Book Awards - Youngsters, Bilingual

Whoops!

Region 1 of the Education Service Centers has done it again?

in two languages?

Tejas Star Book Award

Top award to the 2007 Tejas Star Book Award Winner:

Juan and the Chupacabras/Juan y el Chupacabras by Xavier Garza

"The Tejas Star Book Award was created by the Region One ESC Library Advisory Committee to promote reading in general and for readers to discover the cognitive and economic benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. All the children of Texas have the opportunity to select their favorite book from the Tejas Star list during the 2008-2009 school year. "

See the fuller list at the link.

http://www.esc1.net/12931098115329437/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=54607&12931098115329437Nav=&NodeID=864

The titles do not superficially suggest a particular Texas connection, but its likely that some are.

Jan and Mitchell recognized

Words You Want Ghostwriting blog offers two writers of the month

http://wordsyouwant.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/writers-of-the-month/

Jan and Mitchell

Introduction to the Texas Institute of Letters

An Introduction to the Texas Institute of Letters

(July 2007 issue of Will's Texana Monthly)

Upon discovering there was no readily available simple listing of winners of the Texas Institute of Letters annual awards, I set out to close the gap. Darwin Payne, one such award winner, now at SMU and also secretary of TIL offered large blocks of citations which I augmented and fininished into a final list. During the period I also collected some historical and organizations infomation about TIL and fashioned it into a preface. The list was then added. The total was sent to subscribers in July 2007 as the first in what has become an occasional mono-thematic series of WTM.

If you wish to receive a full electric copy, simple request it through willstexana at yahoo dot com

[[ TIL subsequently adopted the responsibility of posting that list of award winners on their own new webpage at

http://texasinstituteofletters.org/

The Table of Contents (of the July 2007 WTM)

What is the Texas Institute of Letters? - page 4
TIL Webpage – page 5
Officers as of January 2007 – page 6
List of Previous Paisano Ranch Residents: 1967-2000s – page 7
TIL Press Release of Award Winners for Works Published in 2006 – page 8
Finalists for the Publication Year 2006 - page 10
Active Members as of January 2007 – page 13
List of Previous Winners: 1939 to 2006 – page 16
Alphabetical Index by Winning Authors – page 31-36

The prefatory "What is the Texas Institute of Letters" is below

What is the Texas Institute of Letters?

A recent press release describes itself, “The Texas Institute of Letters was founded in Dallas in 1936 during the Texas Centennial to stimulate interest in Texas letters, to recognize distinctive achievement in the field, and to promote fellowship among those interested in the literary and cultural development of the state.”

The TIL webpage notes, “The Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to stimulate interest in Texas letters and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. In addition to promoting fellowship among those especially interested in the cultural development of the state, the TIL annually gives awards for published work and, with the University of Texas at Austin, supports the Paisano fellowships for writers.”

John Edward Weems in a Handbook of Texas article on the Institute mentions that “Membership is offered to persons associated with Texas who have been nominated by a member, approved by the council, and elected by the active members. The members are novelists, poets, essayists, historians, journalists, playwrights, and other writers, but the emphasis for membership has always been on authorship of quality.”

The idea for the organization came from William H. Vann, later author of The Texas Institute of Letters: 1936 – 1966 (Austin: Encino Press, 1967). Vann’s seminal idea and continuing interest across the decades allows the bestowal of the title “Father of the Texas Institute of Letters.”

Originally, the basic purpose was discussion among the members and an undefined public role. Frank Dobie soon became the Institute’s lightning rod, center of gravity, or trail boss, as the occasion would allow. Beyond their convocations in the earliest years, the members began to give awards for the publication year of 1939. Over the years, the categories have changed and remained the same. Some awards are for books, others for periodical issues, and yet more for physical design and special categories. Most are adult works, but some are for children. Not all winning books are Texas by content but are by Texas authors treating a topic in a civilized and literate manner. The members enjoy the continuing discussion on the relationship of the regional perspective and broader literature and civilization. After Dobie’s death in 1964, his Paisano Ranch was purchased by friends, presented to the University of Texas and went to use by the Institute as a place of literary residency for selected “Fellows” who typically stayed there for a six month period.

Read a brief history to the middle of the 1960s by John Edward Weems in the Handbook of Texas Online at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/TT/kqt1.html or Weems’ other version in "History of the Texas Institute of Letters," Texas Libraries (vol. 47, no. 1, Spring 1986). Or find the Directory and History (1948, history by Dobie, mimeographed and rare). Margaret Patton Steigman wrote a thesis “An Evaluation and Record of Selected Novels and Authors Honored by the Texas Institute of Letters,” (East Texas State University, 1976).

North Texas Book Festival Awards

NORTH TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL AWARDS

Some appear to be Texas Connected


http://www.ntbf.org/NTBFBookAward.html



General TradeBook(Fiction)
THE BOYS IN BLUE WHITE DRESS by William F. Lee
Finalists:

Blissby Jeff Lyon
The Rose of York:Crown of Destinyby Sandra Worth

General TradeBook(Non-Fiction)
WHICH END OF ABUFFALO GETS UP FIRST? by George U. Hubbard
Finalists:

The ACU Century:100 Years of Faith and Excellence Ron Hadfield, editor
Tom P's Fiddle:A True Texas Taleby Sherri Knight

General TradeBook(Poetry)
DOWN TO EARTH POETRY by Jim Wilson
Finalists:

Wee Cowrin' Timorous Beastieby Karla K. Morton
Rhyme Timeby R. Wayne Edwards

Children's Book(Fiction and Non-Fiction)

GRANDPA FOR SALE by Dotti Enderle and Vicki Sansum, ill. T. Kyle Gentry

Finalists:

The Spaniel Family's Pen Pal Adventureby Sharon Ellsberry, ill. Amy Fox
Focus on Mineralsby Jerry Wermund, ill. Tony Sansevero

The Case of the Missing Coachby V. Gilbert Zabel

Next festival

April 17-18, 2009at the Center for Visual Arts · 400 E. Hickory · Denton, Texas

Texas Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks in Wikipedia

Our built environment is a major portion of our preserved history and culture.

Wikipedia has some interesting offerings:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historic_civil_engineering_landmarks#Texas

Brooks AFB, Old Hangar 9, San Antonio
San Antonio River Walk & Flood Control System, San Antonio
Galveston Seawall and Grade Raising, Galveston
Acequias of San Antonio, San Antonio
El Camino Real (The Royal Road) Eastern Branch, San Antonio
Denison Dam, Denison
Texas Commerce Bank (formerly Gulf, now Chase) Building, Houston
San Jacinto Monument, Houston
International Boundary Marker #1, El Paso
Houston Ship Channel, Houston

http://www.texasce.org/docs/PastLandmarks.cfm

HISTORIC CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARKS OF TEXAS SECTION-ASCE
with years of dedication (Click on a project name that is in red to see more information about it.)

National CE Landmarks in Texas
Galveston Seawall and Grade Raising Galveston 2001
Hangar 9, Brooks AFB San Antonio 1998
Gulf Building (Texas Commerce Bank, now Chase Bank) Houston 1997
San Antonio's River Walk San Antonio 1996
Denison Dam (with Oklahoma Section) Red River 1993
The San Jacinto Monument East Harris County 1992
Houston Ship Channel Houston 1987
El Camino Real, Eastern Branch San Antonio 1986
International Boundary Marker No. 1 (with New Mexico and Mexico Sections) El Paso 1976
Acequias of San Antonio San Antonio 1968

Texas CE Landmarks
Bataan Memorial Trainway El Paso 2003
Hays Street Bridge San Antonio 2001
Highland Chain of Lakes Texas Hill Country 2000
Holly Pump Station and North Holly Water Treatment Plant Fort Worth 1992
Medina Dam Lake Medina 1991
Buchanan Dam Lake Buchanan 1990
Original Dallas Floodway Dallas 1989
Houston Street Viaduct Dallas 1989
Corpus Christi Seawall Corpus Christi 1988
El Camino Real, Central Branch El Paso 1988
Mills Building El Paso 1981
Paddock Viaduct Fort Worth 1976
Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Works(San Antonio Japanese Tea Gardens) San Antonio 1976
Franklin Canal El Paso 1976
Galveston Seawall and Grade Raising Galveston 1975
Waco Suspension Bridge Waco 1971

Historic Markers with Other Sections
International Boundary Marker No. 1 (with New Mexico and Mexico Sections) El Paso 1976
International Boundary Markerbetween the Republic of Texas andthe U.S. (with Louisiana Section) Logansport, LA 1980
Denison Dam (with Oklahoma Section) Red River 1993

Other sources:
Texas Almanac
see also: http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/highlights/landmarks/

Texas CE
http://www.austinasce.org/hh.htm (Austin Branch, Texas Section - History and Heritage Committee)

http://www.texasce.org/docs/AwardsNational.cfm (for national awards)

Consider adding to these lists or using them to augment your communites awareness of their history through civil engineering