Terrain.org, the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World, and Texas Tech University Press are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2025 Sowell Emerging Writers Prize for a manuscript of fiction.
We had a terrific turnout for the 2025 Sowell Emerging Writers Prize, and we congratulate:
- Marie Gethins for The Perpetual Lives of Horace Greenly
- Emily Grandy for Cupido Cupido
- John Thomson for Out of Good Ground
The fiction manuscript that receives the award will be the third winner of the Sowell Emerging Writers Prize. The prize promotes works about and related to the natural world by early-career writers. In the spirit of the Sowell-affiliated writers and Terrain.org, these new works encourage exploration between human communities and nature from scientific inquiry and personal experience.
The winner will receive $1,000 and publication by Texas Tech University Press in spring 2026.
The judges—editors and staff from Terrain.org, the Sowell Collection, and Texas Tech University Press—will announce the winner in March 2025.
Congratulations to our finalists!
Learn more about the Sowell Emerging Writers Prize.