Texas Highways brought home a slew of prizes this award season. The magazine garnered two City and Regional Magazine Awards, 21 International and Regional Magazine Awards, and a nomination from the American Society of Magazine Editors.
“I’m thrilled to see recognition for the entire team in our award wins and nominations this year—from illustrations and photography, to design and feature writing,” Editor-in-Chief Emily Roberts Stone says. “We have an incredibly passionate team who take their work very seriously, and it’s wonderful to see them all recognized at this level.”
This is the fourth year in a row Texas Highways has been recognized by ASME, which doles out the country’s most prestigious magazine journalism awards. Texas Highways was named a finalist in the organization’s Best Local Cover category for its September 2023 “The Outlaw Issue,” which focused on Texas’ outsiders, rebels, and pioneers.
CRMA awarded the magazine the top prize in Spread Design (Circulation more than 45,000) for “Wind Advisory,” a story about wind in the Texas Panhandle that judges called an “attention grabber” for its creative use of typography and “eye-catching” central image. The magazine also won for best Food or Dining Feature Package for “Fired Up,” which judges said celebrated fajitas “with humor, understated passion, and plenty of useful information.”
IRMA awarded Texas Highways 10 gold, nine silver, and two bronze prizes. TexasHighways.com won website of the year, and the magazine as a whole was a finalist for Magazine of the Year.
In writing categories, several features earned the gold, including Cat Cardenas’ “The Wildest Show Ever Staged,” which won in the Historic Feature division. Judges called it “a fascinating history of prison rodeos—in Texas and beyond.” “Told with nuance and compelling anecdotes,” they added, “it will surely be read and re-read by students of magazines for years.”
Gold prizes for feature writing also went to Lauren Hough’s “Wind Advisory,” Sarah Hepola’s “Home is Where You Park It,” and Marcela Fuentes’ “Fired Up.” Christopher Collins’ “Small Wonders,” Natalie Weiner’s “Honky-Tonk Heroines,” Katie Gutierrez’s “Redemption Songs,” Danielle Lopez’s “Pancho Claus is Coming to Town,” and Kimberly Garza’s “We Were Known For Our Rivers” won writing awards as well.
The staff’s “Texas Botanical Guide” brought home multiple awards, including gold prizes in Art Direction and Editorial Package and silver in Reader Service.
IRMA also recognized Texas Highways’ visual prowess. Photographer Christ Chávez earned multiple awards, including the gold prize in Portrait Photo for the December 2023 cover photo of Tyra Tsosie, who performed a jingle dress dance at the Austin Powwow. Illustrator Peter Strain won gold for his depiction of George Saunders, and Sean Fitzgerald won gold for Photographer of the Year.
