Letters about Literature

The Texas Center for the Book is delighted to announce the opening of the Letters About Literature Texas writing contest for 2025-2026. Texas 4th through 12th graders are invited to participate in this annual writing competition.

Students select a book, book series, essay, play, poem, short story or speech and write a letter to an author-living or dead-explaining how his or her work changed their view of themselves or the world. There are three categories of competition: grades 4-6, grades 7-8, and grades 9-12. The contest is open to all Texas students, including public, private, and homeschool. First-place winners receive $300. Second-place winners receive $200, and third-place winners receive $100.

Additionally, the Center will give $300 grants to the school libraries of each first-place winner (or for homeschoolers, their public library.) First-place winners will also receive a travel stipend ($400) to go towards travel to the Texas Library Association Annual Conference in Houston in March 2026. The winning students will be recognized in a ceremony at the conference.

More information about the contest is available at www.tsl.texas.gov/lettersaboutliterature.

The deadline to submit a letter is 6:00 p.m. Central time on Monday, January 26, 2026.