The Kansas Authors Club, supporting writers since 1904, announces the finalists for the 2026 Kansas Authors Club Book Awards. Each year the organization recognizes published books in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, Kansas history, poetry, children’s books, and book design. Finalists within each category are selected by a panel of readers made up of members, community members, and book professionals. The finalists from each category are then delivered to judges for the award decisions and announced at the 2026 fall gathering, this year taking place as the 2026 Kansas Writing Convention held at Rock Springs Ranch near Junction City, October 2-4, 2026.
Martin Kansas History Book Award – Four Finalists
The Crow Lady: Barbara Waterman-Peters, by Cathy Callen
Barbara Waterman-Peters is an artist living in Topeka, Kansas. She has become well-known for her oil and watercolor paintings and for arts advocacy in her community. Her paintings have been exhibited worldwide and can be found in numerous galleries and museums. In part one of this book, children will learn about Barbara in this book through her fascination with crows. In part two of this book, we learn more about Barbara in her own words. This book contains more than 27 full-color images of Barbara’s work, including watercolor, oil on canvas, and sketches. (Meadowlark Press, 2025)
Barbara Waterman-Peters is an artist living in Topeka, Kansas. She has become well-known for her oil and watercolor paintings and for arts advocacy in her community. Her paintings have been exhibited worldwide and can be found in numerous galleries and museums. In part one of this book, children will learn about Barbara in this book through her fascination with crows. In part two of this book, we learn more about Barbara in her own words. This book contains more than 27 full-color images of Barbara’s work, including watercolor, oil on canvas, and sketches. (Meadowlark Press, 2025)
K-State’s Wrestling Legacy: Stories, Stats, and Personalities that Shaped the Sport in Kansas and Beyond, by Patrick Kelly
For over 50 years, Kansas State University offered a wrestling program that became the state’s flagship at the collegiate level. However, K-State wrestling has now been dormant for half a century. K-State’s Wrestling Legacy gives readers a comprehensive look at the program’s history and connects it to the sport’s growth in the Sunflower State and its national influence. (Flint Hills Publishing, 2025)
For over 50 years, Kansas State University offered a wrestling program that became the state’s flagship at the collegiate level. However, K-State wrestling has now been dormant for half a century. K-State’s Wrestling Legacy gives readers a comprehensive look at the program’s history and connects it to the sport’s growth in the Sunflower State and its national influence. (Flint Hills Publishing, 2025)
Riding Rainbows Through the Storms: Finding Perspective and Hope by Journaling Through a Pandemic, by Anne Spry
A transformative spiritual journey through a universal storm… Do you feel discouraged and overwhelmed by what life throws at you and your loved ones? Are there days you avoid the evening news because you can't handle one more thing? The storms of life seem to be blowing more fiercely these days, and none of us are exempt from the anxiety, fear, and turmoil they bring. In Riding Rainbows, author Anne Spry highlights lessons she has learned from journaling through one of the most challenging storms of her life. Anne handled it by praying, journaling, posting blogs, and doing livestream Facebook posts to understand and interpret the new normal that faces all of us. And now she's consolidated the lessons to help others work through their storms. Full of inspiration, insights, humor, and introspection, this book was written to accompany the Writing to Heal masterclasses she helped develop with her writing partner, Cheri Battrick. But Riding Rainbows Through the Storms stands on its own as a healing tool for anyone who has experienced a major difficulty. (Personal Chapters, 2025)
A transformative spiritual journey through a universal storm… Do you feel discouraged and overwhelmed by what life throws at you and your loved ones? Are there days you avoid the evening news because you can't handle one more thing? The storms of life seem to be blowing more fiercely these days, and none of us are exempt from the anxiety, fear, and turmoil they bring. In Riding Rainbows, author Anne Spry highlights lessons she has learned from journaling through one of the most challenging storms of her life. Anne handled it by praying, journaling, posting blogs, and doing livestream Facebook posts to understand and interpret the new normal that faces all of us. And now she's consolidated the lessons to help others work through their storms. Full of inspiration, insights, humor, and introspection, this book was written to accompany the Writing to Heal masterclasses she helped develop with her writing partner, Cheri Battrick. But Riding Rainbows Through the Storms stands on its own as a healing tool for anyone who has experienced a major difficulty. (Personal Chapters, 2025)
Old Man of the Fossil Beds: A Kansas Dreamer, His Family of Hunters, and Their Search for Prehistoric Sea Creatures, by Melanie Bonner-Thomas
Discover the untold story of Kansas paleontologist Marion Charles Bonner, as told through the eyes of his daughter in Old Man of the Fossil Beds. From the dusty plains of western Kansas to the bustling halls of North American museums, Bonner’s legacy stretches far beyond his groundbreaking discoveries of prehistoric marine animals. But it was his unconventional ways and larger-than-life personality that truly left a mark on those who knew him. As Bonner's family of eight navigates the challenges of farming, the war years, the movie theater business, and the unpredictable forces of nature, his passion for paleontology only grows stronger. Following the example of his mentor, George F. Sternberg, he unearths incredible fossils from the chalk beds of western Kansas, including plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, fish of all sizes, sharks, and even pteranodons. Full of heart, humor, and raw emotion, Old Man of the Fossil Beds is a gripping tale of one man's insatiable thirst for knowledge, and the enduring love of a family that stood by him through it all. Like unearthing a rare, buried fossil, this book brings to light an obscure area of the country, a hitherto unknown Kansas character, and a fossil-hunting family’s way of life. (Chalk Lily Books, 2025)
Discover the untold story of Kansas paleontologist Marion Charles Bonner, as told through the eyes of his daughter in Old Man of the Fossil Beds. From the dusty plains of western Kansas to the bustling halls of North American museums, Bonner’s legacy stretches far beyond his groundbreaking discoveries of prehistoric marine animals. But it was his unconventional ways and larger-than-life personality that truly left a mark on those who knew him. As Bonner's family of eight navigates the challenges of farming, the war years, the movie theater business, and the unpredictable forces of nature, his passion for paleontology only grows stronger. Following the example of his mentor, George F. Sternberg, he unearths incredible fossils from the chalk beds of western Kansas, including plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, fish of all sizes, sharks, and even pteranodons. Full of heart, humor, and raw emotion, Old Man of the Fossil Beds is a gripping tale of one man's insatiable thirst for knowledge, and the enduring love of a family that stood by him through it all. Like unearthing a rare, buried fossil, this book brings to light an obscure area of the country, a hitherto unknown Kansas character, and a fossil-hunting family’s way of life. (Chalk Lily Books, 2025)
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