Every year, the Texas Book Festival awards the Texas Writer Award to one author who has significantly contributed to the state’s literary landscape. These authors put Lone Star narratives on the national radar, connecting people everywhere to the depths and  joys of Texas literature. Previous recipients include Sandra Cisneros, James Magnuson, Dan Rather, and Benjamin Alire Sánez, as well as many, many other talented individuals.

This year, we are so excited to present this award to Attica Locke, author of five notable novels, including Bluebird, Bluebird and the recently-published Heaven, my Home. A native of Houston, Locke often sets her novels along the thoroughfares that connect Houston to its surrounding small East Texas towns, centering Texas narratives in a big way. Her legal fiction highlights the pervasiveness of racism and social inequity, explores the persistence of the past in the present, and showcases how one situation involves many involved, complex layers.

Locke’s writing grandeur extends beyond the novel and into television, having worked as a writer for Empire and recently on the Netflix special When They See Us. She is also working on a forthcoming Netflix adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere.  Attica Locke’s writing is dynamic, illuminative, and downright entertaining, and we are so excited to honor her at this year’s Festival.

Attica Locke was presented with the Texas Writer Award on Saturday, October 26th in the House Chamber at the Texas Book Festival.