WT’s Center for the Study of the American West Honors Two Books

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

Roche’s ‘The Conservative Frontier,’ Russell’s ‘The Antidote’ Picked for Nonfiction, Literary Prizes

CANYON, Texas — A historical examination of conservative politics in Texas and an epic novel about the ravages of the Dust Bowl are the 2026 recipients of the Bonney MacDonald Award for Outstanding Western Book from the Center for the Study of the American West  at West Texas A&M University.

Jeff Roche’s “The Conservative Frontier: Texas and the Origins of the New Right,” which explores this region’s role in the rise of the American conservative political movement, received the scholarly/nonfiction award.

Karen Russell’s “The Antidote,” described by the National Book Foundation as “a mesmerizing meditation on memory that asks us to consider what a nation loses when it chooses to forget,” received the creative/literary award.

This is the first year that the Bonney MacDonald Award, which has been presented since 2019, has been split into two categories.

“CSAW is an interdisciplinary organization, so splitting our annual book award into fiction and nonfiction categories helps us better recognize the many different types of outstanding literary works that are published on the American West each year,” said Dr. Tim Bowman, CSAW director and professor of history. “Jeff Roche offers us the first serious examination of our region’s political culture over a broad period of time, while Karen Russell’s book is an engrossing story of the Dust Bowl in Nebraska, employing magical elements to get at the hopes, dreams, and fears of people during that iconic time on the Plains.”

Roche will accept his award and offer a reading from his book at a Feb. 4 campus event. Russell also will be honored on campus at a date yet to be determined. Further details are forthcoming.

Roche, who graduated from Canyon High School and attended WT in the early 1980s, argues that modern-day conservatism, or “cowboy conservatism,” found its roots on the Great Plains, as pioneering ranchers settled the area in the late 1800s.

“The committee selected Roche's book for this year’s award due to its compelling account of the evolution of conservative thought and politics throughout Texas, but most especially in the Panhandle, in the mid-20th century,” said Dr. Wade Shaffer, professor of history and chair of the scholarly/nonfiction committee. “Roche’s work clarifies how religious, political and social values converged to create the modern conservative ethos that still define our region today.”

Roche, a professor of history at the College of Wooster in Ohio, said he is “so incredibly grateful” to receive the award.

“It means so much to be recognized by the Center for the Study of the American West at WT, the place that I began my journey as a scholar and writer so many years ago. This award only happens because of my youthful encounters with scholars like Fred Rathjen, Garry Nall, Duane Guy, Darrel Munsel and Charles Townsend,” Roche said. “I owe them and WT a great deal. Their work and work ethic have been guide stars throughout my career.”

Russell’s novel, a finalist for the National Book Award, opens on Black Sunday in the fictional Uz, Nebraska, and reckons with a violent past and a potentially hopeful future.

“The novel is set during the Dust Bowl, but it’s brilliant and unexpected,” said Dr. Alex Hunt, Regents Professor of English and associate director of CSAW. “For a novel about the past, it manages to open a window into the future. It spoke deeply to us about our region and its ongoing legacies.”

Russell, a professor of English and creative writing at Stanford University, is the author of six books of fiction, including “Swamplandia!”, a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

“I am so deeply moved to be honored by the Center of the Study of the American West, and grateful in my very marrow to this year's selection committee for the Bonney MacDonald Award,” Russell said. “Writing a novel can be a very lonely endeavor, and a real act of faith—it's unclear, for years at a stretch, if the stories you are trying to tell will ever reach a stranger, and even less certain that your book might mean something to them. ‘The Antidote’ is a deeply collaborative work, and I could not have written it without the help of historians, ecologists, activists, and generous people who shared their own memories and family histories with me. American history is not a monolith, and it's wonderful to be connected to truth-tellers bringing our histories, plural, to light and to life.”

Honorable mention awards were given to Caroline Fraser for "Murderland" in the scholarly/nonfiction category and Teow Lim Goh for "Bitter Creek" in the creative/literary category.

About West Texas A&M University

West Texas A&M University is a Regional Research University in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of about 9,000 and offers multiple options for students to graduate and succeed: 65 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 41 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and three doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference; WT offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Photo: Jeff Roche and Karen Russell are recipients of the 2026 Bonney MacDonald Award for Outstanding Western Book from the Center for the Study of the American West at West Texas A&M University.

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