The Lou Halsell Rodenberger Book Prize in History, Culture, and Literature

The Lou Halsell Rodenberger Prize confers a $1,000 award and publication of the manuscript best illuminating women’s roles in the history, culture, and letters of Texas and the American West, especially in West Texas and the Texas Border Region. 


2022 prize submission guidelines: 

Manuscripts must be submitted by November 30, 2021, to the attention of Travis Snyder, Senior Acquisitions Editor. Manuscripts must be no shorter than 50,000 words and no longer than 90,000 words including notes and ancillaries. All submissions should include a cover letter, a CV, and a complete manuscript, including all illustrations and supplementary materials. 

By submitting to the competition, you warrant that you are allowing TTUP right of first refusal to publish your manuscript. Submissions that do not receive the Lou Halsell Rodenberger Prize may also be considered for book publication. Portions of submitted manuscripts may have appeared previously in journals or edited collections, but previously published works will not be considered. 

A panel of judges will determine the winner; the judges’ decision is final. The winning author will be contacted directly, and the announcement of the winning manuscript will be posted to the TTUP website in spring 2022. The winning manuscript will be published in 2023. 

Previous prize winners: 

Lou Halsell Rodenberger edited or authored several books and articles, including Jane Gilmore Rushing: A West Texas Writer and Her Work (TTUP, 2006) and Writing on the Wind: 

An Anthology of West Texas Women Writers (TTUP, 2005)She served as a regent for Texas Woman’s University, where she was a distinguished alumna. In 2001, she was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters and later served as a director. She was a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association, the West Texas Historical Association, and the Texas Folklore Society and served as president of the latter two organizations.