Welcome

Short Stories by Texas Authors – Volume 10 (2025) showcases the range and punch of contemporary Texas storytelling—gritty realism, luminous literary work, and bold imagination—curated by Texas Authors Press, a division of the Texas Authors Museum & Institute of History. Drawn from the annual short story contest and arranged by score, this limited 2025 edition moves from a motel-room survival in Cheryl King’s “A Wonderful Horrible Life” to myth-forged courage in Sheryl Williams’s “Guardian of the High Reaches: The Story of Jul and Ari,” then roots itself in place with B. Alan Bourgeois’s “Bluebonnet Dreams” and “The Legacy of Words.” Along the way you’ll weather a charged night in Donna Joppie’s “Secrets of the Storm,” face ethical fault lines in Robert DeLuca’s “Rush to Judgement,” and feel the ache of memory in Patricia Taylor Wells’s “The Last Glimpse” and “Little Bird.” Victoria Quinn’s “A Faith Diagnosis,” Ernie Lee’s “Behind the 8 Ball,” Brian Kryszewski’s “The Echoes of Austin,” and William N. Fox’s “Having A Touch of Luck” and “Spirit of an Unconquered People” round out a collection that’s as diverse as the state itself. With a special addition—“The Stillness Movement”—this volume is built for book clubs, classroom samplers, festival tables, and readers who want short fiction that actually sticks: high-concept when it counts, heartfelt when it matters, and always crafted to be discussed. If you’re looking for proof that Texas voices still surprise, provoke, and endure—start here.