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The best books in Texas: Texas Institute of Letters finalists named

Congratulations to Ezra Greenspan, a finalist for the Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Non-fiction and two SMU history PhD alumni, Ramirez Award and Alicia M. Dewey, both finalists for the Texas Institute of Letters most scholarly book. READ MORE

Dallas Morning News
Originally Posted: March 24, 2015
By: Michael Merschel

The venerable Texas Institute of Letters has named finalists for its annual awards, which honor the state’s best writing.

Fiction finalists are Elizabeth Crook, for Monday, Monday; Manuel Luis Martinez, for Los Duros; and Smith Henderson, for Fourth of July Creek.

In nonfiction, it’s Michael Morton, for Getting Life: An Innocent Man’s 25-Year Journey from Prison to Peace; Southern Methodist University’s Ezra Greenspan, for William Wells Brown: An African American Life; and Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, for Dr. Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine.

The finalists for best debut fiction are local writer Merritt Tierce, for Love Me Back; Joe Holley, for The Purse Bearer; and Ralph Compton, for Comanche Trail.

And as previously announced, the TIL will present its prestigious Lon Tinkle Award, “for an outstanding career in letters that has brought honor to the state,” to Lawrence Wright.

Winners will be named April 11 in Houston at the annual meeting for the TIL, which is marking its 79th year. Here’s the complete list of nominees and prizes:

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

Elizabeth Crook, Monday, Monday; Manuel Luis Martinez, Los Duros; Smith Henderson, Fourth of July Creek.

Steven Turner Award for Best Work of First Fiction ($1,000)

Merritt Tierce, Love Me Back; Joe Holley, The Purse Bearer; Ralph Compton, Comanche Trail.

Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Non-fiction ($5,000)

Michael Morton, Getting Life: An Innocent Man’s 25-Year Journey from Prison to Peace; Ezra Greenspan, William Wells Brown: An African American Life; Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, Dr.Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine.

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

Lawrence T. Jones, III, Lens on the Texas Frontier; Houston Faust Mount II, Oil Field Revolutionary; Alicia M. Dewey, Pesos and Dollars.

Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Best Book of Poetry ($1,200)

Katherine Hoerth, Goddess Wears Cowboy Boots; Jan Seale,The Parkinson Poems; Carmen Tafolla, This River Here: Poems of San Antonio.

Bob Bush Memorial Award For First Book Of Poetry ($1,000)

Chloe Honum, The Tulip-Flame; Ben Olguin, Red Leather Gloves; Gayle Laudrun, Reaching for Air.

Edwin “Bud” Shrake Award for Short Nonfiction ($1,000)

Pamela Colloff, “The Witness” in Texas Monthly (Sept. 2014); Alan Peppard, “Islands of the Oil Kings” in The Dallas Morning News (Dec 7, 14, and 21); Michael Hall, “The Murders at the Lake” in Texas Monthly (April 2014).

Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story ($1,000)

Brian Van Reet, “Eat the Spoil;” Paul Christensen, “The Man Next Door;” Andrew Geyer, “Fingers.”

Denton Record-Chronicle Best Children’s Picture Book ($500)

Pat Mora, I Pledge Allegiance; Arun Ghandi and Bethany Hegedus, Grandfather Ghandi; J.L.Powers, Colors of the Wind.

H-E-B/Jean Flynn Best Children’s Book ($500)

Nikki Loftin, Nightingale’s Nest; Naomi Shihab Nye, Turtle of Oman; Greg Leitich Smith, Little Green Men at the Mercury Inn.

H-E-B Best Young Adults Book ($500)

Claudia Guadalupe Martinez, Pig Park; Katherine Howe, Conversion

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

Bill Wittliff, The Devil’s Backbone Illustrated by Jack Unruh; Zeque Penya, GABI, A Girl in Pieces, design by Isabel Quintero

Fans of the TIL might also want to peruse last summer’s Texas Classics series of excerpts from past Lon Tinkle winners. which featured this profile of the legendary editor.

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