AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Book Festival (TBF) on Thursday announced it is presenting the annual Texas Writer Award to Stephen Graham Jones for his latest book, The Only Good Indians.
TBF described the novel as “a new tale of horror, guilt, and revenge” in an email release to its supporters. “The story centers on four Native American friends haunted—quite literally—by a hunting trip gone wrong. Years after the incident, one of the men, Lewis, is suddenly forced to face his past before it first confronts him. With its expert blend of chilling imagery and social commentary, Jones’s novel tackles themes of tradition and cultural identity while keeping readers hooked.”
Jones is a Blackfeet Native American who was born in Midland, Texas. Jones’s works include more than seventeen novels, novellas, one-shot comic book, and six story collections. He earned degrees from the University of North Texas, Texas Tech University, and his PhD from Florida State University. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, where he is the Ivena Baldwing Professor of English at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
His past honors include winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, a Bram Stoker Award, is a former NEA recipient. His previous books include Mongrels, Mapping the Interior, Night of the Mannequins, and The Fast Red Road.
TBF annually gives this award to authors who have “significantly contributed to the state’s literary landscape” through their writing which puts a national spotlight on Texas. TBF will host an online Question and Answer session with Jones on Sunday, November 15 at 2 p.m. It is a free event and open to the public. The Q&A session will also include Otessa Moshfegh. The event is sponsored by Imbrifex Books.