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.

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).