The Writers’ League of Texas has just announced the winners of the 2008 Violet Crown and Teddy Book Awards, honoring outstanding books published in 2007:
- Violet Crown Award for Fiction: Harpsong, by Rilla Askew (right), Norman, OK (University of Oklahoma Press, May 2007)
- Violet Crown Award for Nonfiction: Texas Quilts and Quilters: A Lone Star Legacy, by Marcia Kaylakie (below right), Austin TX (Texas Tech University Press, October 2007)
- Teddy Children’s Book Award: Cures for Heartbreak, by Margo Rabb (left), Austin, TX
(Delacorte Books for Young Readers, February 2007)
The winners will be acknowledged at the Writers’ League Book Awards Ceremony at the Texas Book Festival in Austin at 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 1, in Room 2.026 of the Capitol Extension at the State Capitol in Austin.
The Violet Crown Book Award, founded in 1991, is named for O. Henry’s description of Austin as the City of the Violet Crown and recognizes excellence in fiction and nonfiction. The Teddy Children’s Book Award has recognized outstanding children’s books since 1996. For the first time, the awards are open to authors who are not members the Writers’ League of Texas. Each winner receives a cash price of $1,000 in recognition of outstanding books published the previous year.
Past Violet Crown winners include Texas Monthly columnist and novelist Sarah Bird, mystery author Mary Willis Walker, novelist Amanda Eyre Ward, novelist Clay Reynolds, poet Jack Myers, journalist Carlton Stowers, and NPR commentator Marion Winik. Teddy winners have included Diane Gonzalez Bertrand, Angela Shelf Medearis, Kimberly Willis Holt, and John Erickson.
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