NM Book Awards
The New Mexico Book Awards, a nearly two-decades-old book competition, was slated to cease this year. Instead, it is under new management by New Mexico Writers, who will continue the mission, in the words of Paul Rhetts, founder of the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, “to uncover and honor the best in New Mexico books.”
Authors, designers, publishers, and publicists from New Mexico (or any book with a creative connection to New Mexico) are eligible for the New Mexico Book Awards.
Sign up for The New Mexico Writer to stay informed about the NM Book Awards: NMW Newsletter Signup
Congratulations to the 2025 Winners and Finalists!
Scroll to view the 2025 NM Book Awards winners and finalists in each category.
WINNER and FINALIST stickers (digital and physical) will be available soon. Watch this space October 8-10.
Paul Rhetts Award
The winner of the inaugural Paul Rhetts Award for the most highly rated book in the 2025 New Mexico Book Awards is
Radiant by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Anthology
WINNER ~ Open-Hearted Horizon: An Albuquerque Poetry Anthology
Edited by Valerie Martínez & Shelle VanEtten de Sánchez
University of New Mexico Press
WINNER ~ Water Bodies
Edited by Laura Paskus
Torrey House Press
FINALISTS:
Doorways to the Past
Edited by Richard Melzer & John Taylor
Dust Up (An Anthology by New Mexico Writers)
Jennifer Edelson, et al.
Bad Apple Books
Mosaic Voices
SouthWest Writers
The Cuentistas: Our Stories
NMYAA Cuentistas Press
Writing Through the Apocalypse
Edited by Marcia Meier
Weeping Willow Books
Anthropology / Archaeology
WINNER ~ Pueblo Bonito and Chaco Canyon Revisited
Jonathan E. Reyman
University of New Mexico Press
WINNER ~ Unforgotten: Ancient Cities from a Distant Past
William Frej
George F. Thompson Publishing
FINALISTS:
Evangelicals and MAGA: The Politics of Grievance a Half Century in the Making
Ron Duncan Hart
Institute for Tolerance Studies
The House of Ravens
Lynne Sebastian
RMK Publications
Arts (art, music, or photography)
WINNER ~ Broken Boxes: A Decade of Art, Action, and Dialogue
Ginger Dunnill & Josie Lopez
University of New Mexico Press
WINNER ~ Mata Ortiz: Poetry of the Clay / Poesía del Barro
Charmayne Samuelson
Wood Duck Publishers
FINALISTS:
Colores Sabores y Dichos – 100 Ways to Say I Love You
Rosa Guerrero & Frank René López
Calm Impact
Crow Wisdom: A Seasonal Journey
Jasmine Tritten
Flying Fancy
Ride the High Country
Robert Nott
University of New Mexico Press
Shifting Realms, A Conversation Without Words
Aline Fourier & Jonathan Rutenberg
Creative Response
Unforgotten: Ancient Cities from a Distant Past
William Frej
George F. Thompson Publishing
Autobiography & Memoir
WINNER ~ Beyond Fear: A Woman’s Path to Enlightenment
Karen Chrappa
Terra Nova Books / Mango Moon Media
WINNER ~ The House of Ravens
Lynne Sebastian
RMK Publications
FINALISTS:
Backward & Blind: Inspirational Stories about Teaching Teens
Jean A. Miller Mariner
Citrine Publishing
Becoming Ravenbear, An Alaskan Magical Memoir
Efrem Razumny
Ravenbear Press
Brotherton’s Travels: Memoirs
Greg Boyd
Coyote Arts
Delusions and Grandeur
Mark Sundeen
University of New Mexico Press
Love Letter to Ramah: Living Beside New Mexico’s Trail of the Ancients
Tim Amsden
University of New Mexico Press
My Brooklyn Bridge
Jeffrey M. Hills
Nighthawk Press
Outsider: My Boyhood with Thoreau
Lawrence Millman
Coyote Arts
Biography
WINNER ~ Citizen Carl: The Editor Who Cracked Teapot Dome, Shot a Judge, and Invented the Parking Meter
Jack McElroy
University of New Mexico Press
FINALISTS:
Billy the Kid: The Life Behind the Legend
George R. Matthews
McFarland & Company
The Edge Rover
Timothy E. Green
Texas Tech University Press
BIPOC Author or Subject
WINNER ~ Too Much, My Great Big Native Family
Laurel Goodluck
Simon & Schuster
FINALISTS:
Fatima Tate Takes the Cake
Khadijah VanBrakle
Holiday House
Fire Eater: A Translator’s Theology
Chloe Garcia Roberts
co.im.press
Missing Walk
Melissa Bowersock
New Moon Publishing
Radiant
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Penguin Young Readers (Dutton Books)
Sisters Arcana
Saleema Ishq
Fearless Phrases Publishing
The New Frontier
Wayne L. Wilson
Kinkajou Press
Zones of Encuentro: Language and Identities in Northern New Mexico
Lillian Gorman
The Ohio State University Press
Business & Career
WINNER ~ MAH-WAAN (WELCOME): The Story of Hotel Santa Fe & Picuris Pueblo
Daniel Gibson (writer) & Kitty Leaken (editor of photography)
White Buffalo
FINALISTS:
None
Coffee Table Book
WINNER ~ The Gila 100
Jay Hemphill
Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University
FINALISTS:
Mata Ortiz: Poetry of the Clay / Poesía del Barro
Charmayne Samuelson
Wood Duck Publishers
Unforgotten: Ancient Cities from a Distant Past
William Frej
George F. Thompson Publishing
Cookbook / Gardening / Crafts / Hobby / Home
WINNER ~ Bear Mountain Lodge Cookbook
Linda Brewer
Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University
FINALISTS:
Cooking for Halflings & Monsters, Volume 3
Astrid Tuttle Winegar
Multitudes Press
Growing a Sensational Garden in the Southern Rocky Mountains
Nan Fischer
University of New Mexico Press
The Competently Quirky Parables of an Eccentric Master Gardener
Rosie Kern
RMK Publications
Fiction – adventure or drama
WINNER ~ Proud Outcast
W. Michael Farmer
Hat Creek / Roan & Weatherford
FINALISTS:
Bottled Secrets of Rosewood
Mary Kendall
Artemesia Publishing
The Dream is the Truth
Rebecca D. Elswick
Artemesia Publishing
The Eagle’s Claw
Donald Travis Morgan
Creative Texts
The Moth
Scott Archer Jones
Fomite Press
Unanswered Howls: Stories of the Caja del Rio
Oriana Rodman
Fine Dog Press
Fiction – cozy mystery
WINNER ~ Bones in the Back Forty
Marty Eberhardt
Artemesia Publishing
WINNER ~ Fried Chicken Castañeda
Suzanne Stauffer
Artemesia Publishing
FINALISTS:
The Pryce of Conceit
Kari Bovée
Bosque Publishing
Yen for Murder
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson
Artemesia Publishing
Fiction – crime
WINNER ~ The Moth
Scott Archer Jones
Fomite Press
FINALISTS:
Death in the Land of Enchantment
Holly Harrison
Koehler Books
Havoc
Deborah J Ledford
Thomas & Mercer
Mama’s Boy
Mike Avery
Fearless Advocates Press
Murder in Blue
Mike Avery
Fearless Advocates Press
Fiction – fantasy
WINNER ~ Dragon Train War
RJ The Story Guy
High Desert Libris
FINALIST:
Host of Evil
Kirt Hickman
Quillrunner Publishing
Fiction – historical
WINNER ~ Beautiful Dreamers
Minrose Gwin
Hub City Press
FINALISTS:
An Unhappy Country
Loretta Miles Tollefson
Palo Flechado Press
Billy the Kid
Ryan C. Coleman
Blackstone Publishing
Discretion is Valor
J. Hoolihan Clayton
Dog Soldier Press
El Hermano
Carmen Baca
Shawmut Peninsula Press
Guerrero
José Ángel Mañas; Translated by Brendan Riley
University of New Mexico Press
Proud Outcast
W. Michael Farmer
Hat Creek / Roan & Weatherford
Touch of Glory
Elizabeth Analise
Rosewood Publishing
Fiction – mystery/thriller
WINNER ~ My Bonney Lies Under
Susan Cummins Miller
Artemesia Publishing
FINALISTS:
Chaco: Mirrors and Murder
Colin Barker
Crazy Like a Goat
J.L. Greger
Bug Press
Denver Undercover
Lynda Miller
Bosque Press
Murder in Blue
Mike Avery
Fearless Advocates Press
Panther Creek
Tom Holm
University of New Mexico Press
Shadow of the Solstice
Anne Hillerman
HarperCollins
Skinwalker Medium
G.G. Collins
Chamisa Canyon Publishing
Stealing the Hopi Snake Dance
James C. Wilson
Sunstone Press
Fiction – sci-fi
WINNER ~ Another Life
Sarena Ulibarri
Stelliform Press
FINALISTS:
Sub-Luminal
Alastair Miles
Shadow Dragon Press
Tempest Blades: The Root of Hope
Ricardo Victoria
Shadow Dragon Press
Fiction – other
WINNER ~ Dichos en Nichos
Sage Vogel; Illustrations by Jim Vogel and Christen Vogel
University of New Mexico Press
FINALISTS:
Across the Narrows
Martha Burns
Atmosphere Press
Beautiful Dreamers
Minrose Gwin
Hub City Press
Dear Virginia, Wait for Me
Marcia Butler
Central Avenue Publishing
Devil Take It
Daniel Debs Nossiter
Heresy Press
Journey of the Broken Vessels
Ashten Duncan
Nopalito, Texas
David Meischen
University of New Mexico Press
Seren
Peter Gooch
Apprentice House
The Horse on the Sidewalk
Baker H. Morrow
Casa Urraca Press
The Moth
Scott Archer Jones
Fomite Press
First Book by Author or Publisher
WINNER ~ Seren
Peter Gooch
Apprentice House
WINNER ~ Unanswered Howls: Stories of the Caja del Rio
Oriana Rodman
Fine Dog Press
FINALISTS:
AND: The Tiny Word That Can Radically Transform Your Life
Bree Rosenblum, PhD
Hearth Press
A Snitch in Time
Stephen McIlwain
Bear Mountain Lodge Cookbook
Linda Brewer
Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University
Becoming Ravenbear, An Alaskan Magical Memoir
Efrem Razumny
Ravenbear Press
BIRD
Marisa P. Clark
Unicorn Press
Journey of the Broken Vessels
Ashten Duncan
The Kármán Line
Daisy Atterbury
Rescue Press
Touch of Glory
Elizabeth Analise
Rosewood Publishing
Zones of Encuentro: Language and Identities in Northern New Mexico
Lillian Gorman
The Ohio State University Press
Health / Humor / New Age
WINNER ~ Call Me Zach Hively Because That Is My Name
Zach Hively
Casa Urraca Press
FINALISTS:
America’s Most Dangerous Jobs
Dr. Bob Larsen
Working Man’s Press
The Ten Commandments Reboot
Gershon Siegel
Permanent Press
History
WINNER ~ Borderland Brutalities
Laura Elena Belmonte
University of New Mexico Press
WINNER ~ Crossings: Women on the Santa Fe Trail
Frances Levine
University Press of Kansas
FINALISTS:
A Checkered Past
Janie Bell Furman & Mike Gaba
Tularosa Basin Historical Society
Against the American Grain
Gary Paul Nabhan
University of New Mexico Press
Citizens by Treaty
A. Gabriel Meléndez
Modern Language Association
Two Centuries To Freedom
David F. Menicucci
Sunstone Press
When Cimarron Meant Wild
David L. Caffey
University of Oklahoma Press
LGBTQIA+ Author or Subject
WINNER ~ Julio Galán: The Art of Performative Transgression
Teresa Eckmann
University of New Mexico Press
FINALISTS:
BIRD
Marisa P. Clark
Unicorn Press
Denver Undercover
Lynda Miller
Bosque Press
The Christmas Pic
Rena Sapon-White & Ella Schaefer
Smokeshow Press
The Kármán Line
Daisy Atterbury
Rescue Press
Multicultural
WINNER ~ I Am of the Tribe of Judah
Edited by Stephen A. Sadow; Introduction by Ilan Stavans
University of New Mexico Press
WINNER ~ Zones of Encuentro: Language and Identities in Northern New Mexico
Lillian Gorman
The Ohio State University Press
FINALISTS:
Fire Eater: A Translator’s Theology
Chloe Garcia Roberts
co.im.press
Havoc
Deborah J Ledford
Thomas & Mercer
Mata Ortiz: Poetry of the Clay / Poesía del Barro
Charmayne Samuelson
Wood Duck Publishers
Missing Walk
Melissa Bowersock
New Moon Publishing
Two Centuries To Freedom
David F. Menicucci
Sunstone Press
Nature / Environment / Animals / Pets
WINNER ~ What Walks This Way
Sharman Apt Russell
Columbia University Press
FINALISTS:
A Habit of Landscape
Shelley Armitage
Finishing Line Press
Becoming Ravenbear, An Alaskan Magical Memoir
Efrem Razumny
Ravenbear Press
Cuna en la Naturaleza
Linda Wilson
Moonlight Elk
Christie Green
University of New Mexico Press
Nonfiction – general
WINNER ~ AND: The Tiny Word That Can Radically Transform Your Life
Bree Rosenblum, PhD
Hearth Press
FINALISTS:
America’s Most Dangerous Jobs
Dr. Bob Larsen
Working Man’s Press
A Passing West: Essays From the Borderlands
Dagoberto Gilb
University of New Mexico Press
Fire Eater: A Translator’s Theology
Chloe Garcia Roberts
co.im.press
The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body
Renée Gregorio
Inner Traditions
Two Centuries To Freedom
David F. Menicucci
Sunstone Press
Zozobra & Santa Fe 1924-2024
Daniel Clavio
Direct Currents Publishing
Parenting & Family
WINNER ~ Jade Bird: Singing Grief
Joan Logghe (poems & art); with Hope Logghe, Leland Guthrie, Kaleia Amaya Guthrie, and Corina Sophia Logghe
Wild Rising Press
WINNER ~ What Does Grief Feel Like?
Korie Leigh, Ph.D.
Free Spirit Publishing
FINALISTS:
None
Philosophy / Religion
WINNER ~ The Ten Commandments Reboot
Gershon Siegel
Permanent Press
FINALIST:
Evangelicals and MAGA: The Politics of Grievance a Half Century in the Making
Ron Duncan Hart
Institute for Tolerance Studies
Poetry
WINNER ~ In Old Sky
Lauren Camp
Grand Canyon Conservancy
WINNER ~ Trees Dream of Water
Leo Romero
University of Arizona Press
FINALISTS:
BIRD
Marisa P. Clark
Unicorn Press
Borderless: Poems, Essays & Drawings for a New Mind
Vijali Hamilton
World Wheel Press
Fire Eater: A Translator’s Theology
Chloe Garcia Roberts
co.im.press
Go Figure
Carol Moldaw
Four Way Books
Independence Day
Joanne Fay Brown
Main Street Rag Publishing
Jade Bird: Singing Grief
Joan Logghe (poems & art); with Hope Logghe, Leland Guthrie, Kaleia Amaya Guthrie, and Corina Sophia Logghe
Wild Rising Press
Light of Wings
Sarah Kotchian
University of New Mexico Press
Mata Ortiz: Poetry of the Clay / Poesía del Barro
Charmayne Samuelson
Wood Duck Publishers
Mermaids of Albuquerque
Elizabeth Cohen
Saint Julian Press
Orpheus the Healer
V. B. Price
Casa Urraca Press
Psalms from the Badlands
Hosho McCreesh
Drunkskull Books
Radiant
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Penguin Young Readers (Dutton Books)
the artemisia
William S. Barnes
Inlandia Institute
The Horses of Time
Jeanne Shannon
Mercury HeartLink
The Kármán Line
Daisy Atterbury
Rescue Press
The Radiant
Lise Goett
Tupelo Press
There Are as Many Songs in the World as Branches of Coral
Elizabeth Jacobson
Parlor Press
The Trials and Tribulations of Dirty Shame, Oklahoma
Sy Hoahwah
University of New Mexico Press
Political & Current Events
WINNER ~ Report From a Last Survivor
Fred Harris
University of New Mexico Press
FINALISTS:
Evangelicals and MAGA: The Politics of Grievance a Half Century in the Making
Ron Duncan Hart
Institute for Tolerance Studies
Requiem for Camelot
Dr. Alan E. Diehl
Self-Help & Guides
WINNER ~ Conversations with Psyche
Victoria Rabinowe
Bright Shadow Press
FINALISTS:
AND: The Tiny Word That Can Radically Transform Your Life
Bree Rosenblum, PhD
Hearth Press
Shifting Realms, A Conversation Without Words
Aline Fourier & Jonathan Rutenberg
Creative Response
The Ten Commandments Reboot
Gershon Siegel
Permanent Press
Thresholds of Change: The Way through Transformational Times
Rebecca Borland Reynolds
Connolly Fox
Sports / Recreation
WINNER ~ Into the Unknown
Michael P. Ghiglieri
University of New Mexico Press
FINALISTS:
None
Travel
WINNER ~ A Guide to the Bars and Restaurants of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul
Aimee Macpherson
University of New Mexico Press
FINALIST:
Unforgotten: Ancient Cities from a Distant Past
William Frej
George F. Thompson Publishing
Young Adult (high school)
WINNER ~ Fatima Tate Takes the Cake
Khadijah VanBrakle
Holiday House
FINALISTS:
L.E.A.P. (Linn’s Emerging Adult Plan)
Toni Bellon
Kinkajou Press
Nahia
Emily Jones
Holiday House
The Pink Door
Aspen Montoya-Keith
NMYAA Cuentistas Press
Juvenile (grades 3-8)
WINNER ~ Radiant
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Penguin Young Readers (Dutton Books)
FINALISTS:
Cryptid Currency
Josh Berliner
Kinkajou Press
In the Shadow of Sunrise
Jennifer Bohnhoff
Kinkajou Press
Legend of the Narwhals
Robert Skead
Kinkajou Press
Loophole
Rebecca Weber
Kinkajou Press
The Etiquette of Voles
Karen B. McCoy
Kinkajou Press
The Famished Country
Jennifer Bohnhoff
Kinkajou Press
Young Readers (grades 1-3)
WINNER ~ She Persisted: Deb Haaland
Laurel Goodluck
Penguin Random House
FINALIST:
The Weather Teller’s Tale
Sandi Wright
Art Academy Publishing
Children’s Picture Book
WINNER ~ Rock Your Mocs
Laurel Goodluck
HarperCollins
FINALISTS:
Cuna en la Naturaleza
Linda Wilson
Mari Meets Old Man Gloom
Jacqueline Aragón & Natalia Lopez
Casa Urraca Press
Strong Like Jane: The True Story of a Courageous Potbelly Pig
Beverly Ann Allen
Acute By Design
What Does Grief Feel Like?
Korie Leigh, Ph.D.
Free Spirit Publishing
Cover Design (6x9 or smaller)
WINNER ~ America’s Most Dangerous Jobs
Dr. Bob Larsen
Working Man’s Press
FINALISTS:
Crow Wisdom: A Seasonal Journey
Jasmine Tritten
Flying Fancy
Dragonfly
Irene I. Blea
RMK Publications
Flow: Santa Fe River Poems
Cynthia West
Inked Wingbeat
Leap Year: Rising on Invisible Wings
Hank Blackwell
Mercury HeartLink
Stolen Sisters
Lif Strand
The Light of Wounds
Diane Hatz
Whole Healthy Group
The Moth
Scott Archer Jones
Fomite Press
Cover Design (larger than 6x9)
WINNER ~ The Cuentistas: Our Stories
NMYAA Cuentistas Press
WINNER ~ The Half-Life of Guilt
Lynn Stegner
University of New Mexico Press
FINALISTS:
Broken Boxes: A Decade of Art, Action, and Dialogue
Ginger Dunnill & Josie Lopez
University of New Mexico Press
Mata Ortiz: Poetry of the Clay / Poesía del Barro
Charmayne Samuelson
Wood Duck Publishers
For edits to listed book covers, titles, authors, or publishers, please email NM Book Awards.