The Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit Honor Society founded by William Harvey Vann in 1936 to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. The TIL’s elected membership consists of the state’s most respected writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, journalism, and scholarship. Induction into the TIL is based on literary accomplishments. Application for membership is not accepted. The rules governing the selection of members and officers are contained in the TIL By-Laws. The TIL annually elects new members, gives awards to recognize outstanding literary works, and supports the Dobie Paisano Fellowship Program for writers. The TIL offers awards to outstanding books written by Texas authors, or dealing with Texas subjects. The TIL also co-administrates the Dobie Paisano Fellowship, which awards residencies at the ranch of former TIL President

J. Frank Dobie James Frank Dobie (September 26, 1888 – September 18, 1964) was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for his many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open rang ...

. Each year the TIL awards over $26,000 in literary prizes, including the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction, the Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Nonfiction, the

Sergio Troncoso Sergio Troncoso (born 1961) is an American author of short story, short stories, essays and novels. He often writes about the United States-Mexico border, working-class immigrants, families and fatherhood, philosophy in literature, and crossing c ...

Award for Best First Book Fiction, the Ramirez Family Award for Most Significant Scholarly Book, the Helen C. Smith Award for Best Book of Poetry, the John A. Robertson Award For Best First Book of Poetry, Jean Flynn Award for Best Young Adult Book, Deirdre Siobhan FlynnBass Award for Best Middle Grade Book, Brigid Erin Flynn Award for Best Picture Book, the Edwin "Bud" Shrake Award for Best Short Nonfiction, the Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story, the Fred Whitehead Award for Design of a Trade Book (biennial), and the Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation of a Book (biennial). The TIL website has a complete list of all the winners from every prize category starting from 1936 to present. Prominent members include: Sarah Bird,

Sandra Cisneros Sandra Cisneros (born December 20, 1954) is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, ''The House on Mango Street'' (1983), and her subsequent short story collection, ''Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories'' (1991). Her work ex ...

Elizabeth Crook Elizabeth Crook (born April 9, 1959) is an American novelist specializing in historical fiction. Her nonfiction work has been published in anthologies and periodicals such as Texas Monthly and Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Biography Born ...

Robert Flynn Robert Conrad Flynn (born Lawrence Matthew Cardine; July 19, 1967) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Machine Head. Flynn formed the band along with Adam Duce, Logan Mader and Tony Cos ...

Ben Fountain Ben Fountain (born 1958) is an American writer currently living in Dallas, Texas. He has won many awards including a PEN/Hemingway award for ''Brief Encounters with Che Guevara: Stories'' (2007) and the National Book Critics Circle Award for fict ...

Stephen Harrigan Stephen Harrigan (born 1948) is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of the bestselling ''The Gates of the Alamo'', for other novels such as ''Remember Ben Clayton'' and ''A Friend of Mr. Lincoln,'' ...

, Skip Hollandsworth,

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

Pat Mora Pat Mora (born January 19, 1942 in El Paso, Texas) is an American poet and author of books for adults, teens and children. Her grandparents came to El Paso from northern Mexico. A graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, she received Honor ...

Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million co ...

Naomi Shihab Nye Naomi Shihab Nye ( ar, نعومي شهاب ناي; born March 12, 1952) is an American poet, editor, songwriter, and novelist. Born to a Palestinian father and an American mother, she began composing her first poetry at the age of six. In total ...

, Benjamin Alire Sáenz,

George Saunders George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...

Cynthia Leitich Smith Cynthia Leitich Smith (born 1967) is a New York Times best-selling author of fiction for children and young adults. A member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, she writes fiction for children centered on the lives of modern-day Native Americans. Th ...

, W. K. Stratton, Carmen Tafolla,

Abraham Verghese Abraham Verghese (born 1955) is an American physician, author, Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. He is also the author of ...

, and

Lawrence Wright Lawrence Wright (born August 2, 1947) is an American writer and journalist, who is a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Wright is best known as th ...

.Texas Institute of Letters: Active Members
/ref>

The Lon Tinkle Award

The

Lon Tinkle Julien Lon Tinkle (March 20, 1906 – January 11, 1980) was a historian, writer, book critic, and professor who specialized in the history of Texas. Tinkle spent most of his life in Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from and later taught at S ...

Award is a life-achievement award bestowed annually to distinguished writers from, or in some way associated with, Texas. The honorees are chosen by the TIL Council from nominations made by the membership. Winners : 1981:

Thomas C. Lea III Thomas Calloway Lea III (July 11, 1907 – January 29, 2001) was an American muralist, illustrator, artist, war correspondent, novelist, and historian. The bulk of his art and literary works were about Texas, north-central Mexico, and his Worl ...

(1907–2001) : 1982: John Graves (born 1920) : 1983: William A. Owens (1905–1990) : 1984:

(1936–2021) : 1985:

Donald Barthelme Donald Barthelme (April 7, 1931 – July 23, 1989) was an American short story writer and novelist known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the ''Houston Post'', was managing ...

(1931–1989) : 1987:

Elmer Kelton Elmer Stephen Kelton (April 29, 1926Kelton, Elmer (2007). - ''Sandhills Boy: The Winding Trail of a Texas Writer''. - New York, New York: Forge. - p.26. - . – August 22, 2009) was an American journalist and writer, known particularly for hi ...

(1926–2009) : 1987: A.C. Greene (1923–2002) : 1988: Charles Leland "Doc" Sonnichsen (1901–1991) : 1989: John Edward Weems (1924–1999) : 1990: Marshall Northway Terry, Jr. (born 1931) : 1991:

Margaret Cousins Margaret Elizabeth Cousins (''née'' Gillespie, also known as Gretta Cousins; 7 November 1878 – 11 March 1954) was an Irish-Indian educationist, suffragist and Theosophist, who established All India Women's Conference (AIWC) in 1927. She was th ...

(1905–1996) : 1992:

Vassar Miller Vassar Miller (July 19, 1924 – October 31, 1998) was an American writer and poet. She served as Poet Laureate of Texas (1988-1989). Biography Miller was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of real estate investor Jesse G. Miller. She began wri ...

(1924–1998) : 1993:

Horton Foote Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays for the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name ...

(1916–2009) : 1994:

Americo Paredes Americo (or Américo) is a Portuguese- and Spanish-language given name, occasionally used as a surname and in other cultures. It is a variant of the name Henry. English diminutives or hypocorisms include Rico & Eric. People with the name includ ...

(1915–1999) : 1995: William Humphrey (1924–1997) : 1996:

(born 1933) : 1997: Rolando Hinojosa-Smith (born 1929) : 1998:

(born 1932) : 1999: Walt McDonald (born 1934) : 2000:

Leon Hale Leon Hale (May 30, 1921March 27, 2021) was an American journalist and author. He worked as a columnist for the ''Houston Chronicle'' from 1984 until his retirement in 2014. Before that, he had a column in the ''Houston Post'' for 32 years. He ...

(1921–2021) : 2001:

William H. Goetzmann William Harry Goetzmann (July 20, 1930 – September 7, 2010) was an American historian and emeritus professor in the American Studies and American Civilization Programs at the University of Texas at Austin. He attended Yale University as a graduate ...

(1930–2010) : 2002:

Shelby Hearon Shelby Hearon (January 18, 1931 - December 10, 2016) was an American novelist and short story writer. Early life Hearon was born in 1931 in Marion, Kentucky. She attended the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts ...

(born 1931) : 2003:

Bud Shrake Edwin A. "Bud" Shrake, Jr. (September 6, 1931 – May 8, 2009) was an American journalist, sportswriter, novelist, biographer and screenwriter. He co-wrote a series of golfing advice books with golf coach Harvey Penick, including ''Harvey Penick' ...

(1931–2009) : 2004:

T. R. Fehrenbach Theodore Reed "T. R." Fehrenbach, Jr. (January 12, 1925 – December 1, 2013) was an American historian, columnist, and the former head of the Texas Historical Commission (1987-1991).

(born 1925) : 2005: James Martin Hoggard (born 1941) : 2006:

William D. Wittliff William Dale Wittliff (January 21, 1940 – June 9, 2019), sometimes credited as Bill Wittliff, was an American screenwriter, author, and photographer who wrote the screenplays for '' The Perfect Storm'' (2000), ''Barbarosa'' (1982), ''Raggedy ...

(born 1940) : 2007: David Joseph Weber (1940–2010) : 2008: Carolyn C. Osborn (born 1934) : 2009: Larry L. King (1929–2012) † : 2011: C.W. Smith (born 1940) : 2012: Gary Cartwright (born 1934) : 2013:

(born 1948) : 2014: Jan Reid (born 1945) : 2015:

(born 1947) : 2016: Sarah Bird (born 1949) : 2017:

(born 1942) : 2018:

(born 1954) : 2019:

(born 1952) : 2020:

John Rechy John Francisco Rechy (born March 10, 1931) is a Mexican-American novelist and essayist. In his novels, he has written extensively about gay culture in Los Angeles and wider America, among other subject matter, and is among the pioneers of moder ...

(born 1931) : 2021: Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 1954) : 2022: Celeste Bedford Walker : † Beginning 2011, the award date reflects the actual date of the presentation. For instance, Larry King's 2009 award was actually presented in 2010.

References

External links

Texas Institute of Letters

Handbook of Texas Online: the Texas Institute of Letters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Texas Institute Of Letters American writers' organizations Arts organizations based in Texas Texas literature Arts organizations established in 1936 1936 establishments in Texas