Texas Monthly

{{Short description|American magazine published in Texas}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox magazine | title = | image_file = Texas Monthly Magazine, January 2007 cover.jpg | image_size =  | image_alt = | image_caption = Cover of the January 2007 issue, covering the Dick Cheney hunting incident | editor = Ross McCammon<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2024/10/18/storied-magazine-texas-monthly-gets-new-chief/|last=Martin |first=Arcelia |date=October 18, 2024|title=Storied magazine Texas Monthly gets new chief with Dallas roots|work=Dallas Morning News|access-date=June 20, 2025}}</ref> | editor_title = Editor-in-chief | previous_editor = | staff_writer = | frequency = Monthly | total_circulation = 252,469<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcas3.auditedmedia.com/ecirc/magtitlesearch.asp|date=December 31, 2024|title=ABC|publisher=Abcas3.accessabc.com|access-date=March 31, 2025}}</ref> | circulation_year = 2023 | category = | company = Texas Monthly LLC (Randa Williams) | publisher = | founded = | firstdate = {{Start date and age|1973|2}} | country = United States | based = Austin, Texas | language = | website = {{URL|https://www.texasmonthly.com}} | issn = 0148-7736 | oclc = 222820656 }} [[File:Texasmonthlynewsbushapt.jpg|thumb|''Texas Monthly'' News shop at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston]] '''''Texas Monthly''''' (stylized as '''''TexasMonthly''''') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education. The magazine also covers leisure topics such as music, art, dining, and travel. It is a member of the City and Regional Magazine Association (CRMA).<ref name="crma-members">{{cite web|url=http://www.citymag.org/City-and-Regional-Magazine-Association/Media-Partners/CRMA-Magazines/|title=CRMA Magazines|work=City and Regional Magazine Association|access-date=October 14, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531220024/http://www.citymag.org/City-and-Regional-Magazine-Association/Media-Partners/CRMA-Magazines/|archive-date=May 31, 2010}}</ref>

After being sold to Emmis Publishing, L.P. in 1998,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/28/business/emmis-to-buy-texas-monthly-publisher.html|title=Emmis to Buy Texas Monthly Publisher|newspaper=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|date=5 April 1998|access-date=5 April 2018}}</ref> the magazine was later sold to Genesis Park LP in 2016 for $25 million,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-14 |title=Texas Monthly magazine sold for $25 million |url=https://www.statesman.com/story/business/2016/10/14/texas-monthly-magazine-sold-for-25-million/9959008007/ |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=Austin American-Statesman |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-13 |title=Texas Monthly sale puts a Hobby in charge |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Texas-Monthly-sale-puts-a-Hobby-in-charge-9970314.php |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=Houston Chronicle |language=en |last1=Najarro |first1=By Ileana }}</ref> and is currently owned by Randa Williams {{as of|2019|lc=y}}.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-25 |title=Texas Monthly sells to billionaire oil and gas heiress |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2019/06/25/texas-monthly-sells-to-billionaire-oil-and-gas-heiress/ |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Dallas News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dawson |first1=Peter |title=10 things to know about Randa Duncan Williams, the Houston billionaire who just bought Texas Monthly |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Randa-Duncan-Williams-Texas-Monthly-Houston-14045836.php |access-date=23 April 2020 |publisher=Houston Chronicle |date=June 25, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Texas Monthly gets new ownership, again |url=https://www.statesman.com/news/20190625/texas-monthly-gets-new-ownership-again |access-date=23 April 2020 |publisher=Austin American Statesman |date=June 25, 2019}}</ref> In 2021, ''Texas Monthly'' began expanding into video production through its acquisition of Phillips Productions, best known as the producers of ''Texas Country Reporter''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digiday.com/media/why-texas-monthly-thinks-a-pivot-to-video-will-help-attract-subscribers/|title=Why Texas Monthly thinks a pivot to video will help attract subscribers|date=11 February 2022}}</ref>

==Subject matter== ''Texas Monthly'' assumes that Texas has always been, and still is, a distinctive place. It has made itself the arbiter of all things culturally Texan, publishing articles on Texas barbecue, the Texas Rangers (including Joaquin Jackson's famous 1994 cover appearance), and Texas musicians.

''Texas Monthly''{{'}}s annual "Bum Steer Awards" poke fun at Texas politicians and policies, odd Texas-related news items and personalities from the previous year. Anna Nicole Smith (prior to her death) was a perennial "winner". Other Bum Steer "Hall of Famers" include Ross Perot, Tom DeLay, and Jessica Simpson. It releases biennial lists with explanations of the "Ten Best" and "Ten Worst" Texas state legislators.

Since the establishment of the magazine, barbecue enthusiasts have been among the ''Texas Monthly'' staff. The magazine's first article about barbecue in Texas was published in 1973. The magazine often ranks what it considers to be the best barbecue restaurants in Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Forrest Brown |title=The big city takeover of Texas barbecue |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/texas-barbecue-scene-big-city/index.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=CNN |date=June 6, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Calvin Trillin of ''The New Yorker'' said in 2008 that East Texas barbecue often did not interest the Austin-based staff of the ''Texas Monthly'', who were more focused on Central Texas barbecue.<ref>Trillin, Calvin. [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_trillin "By Meat Alone"], ''The New Yorker'', November 24, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2010.</ref> Texas Monthly's rankings are considered authoritative and their release is an annual event in Texas barbecue.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kennedy |first1=Bud |title=For BBQ, it’s like the Oscars, Super Sunday: Texas Monthly’s Top 50 list is here|url=https://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/restaurants/eats-beat/article307240741.html |website=star-telegram.com |publisher=Fort Worth Star-Telegraph |access-date=9 August 2025}}</ref>

In December 2021, the magazine signed a three-year first-look deal with HBO and HBO Max.<ref>{{cite news|title=HBO Strikes First-Look Deal With Texas Monthly|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hbo-texas-monthly-first-look-deal-1235064542/|work=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Rick|last=Porter|date=December 17, 2021}}</ref>

==Awards== In February 2026, ''Texas Monthly'' contributor Elliott Woods won the 2025 George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting for a two-part series that explored a 2022 immigration-related disaster that left 53 migrants dead in San Antonio.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oyenuga |first=Naomi |title=Reporter wins award for investigative reporting |url=https://bronxrivernews.org/2026/04/reporter-wins-award-for-investigative-reporting/ |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=Bronx River News}}</ref> Later that year, in May 2026, senior editor Aaron Parsley won ''Texas Monthly'' its first Pulitzer Prize. Parsley's award-winning entry, a first-person account of his family's experience and loss during the July 2025 Central Texas floods, won in the feature writing category.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texan wins Pulitzer Prize for heartbreaking story of Guadalupe flood - CultureMap Houston |url=https://austin.culturemap.com/news/city-life/aaron-parsley-pulitzer-prize-flood/ |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=austin.culturemap.com |language=en}}</ref>

The magazine has also received fourteen National Magazine Awards:<ref>[https://www.texasmonthly.com/magazine/national_mag_awards Nominations for National Magazine Awards] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201012053/http://www.texasmonthly.com/magazine/national_mag_awards |date=February 1, 2013}}. TexasMonthly.com.</ref> * General Excellence—2009, 2003, 1992, 1990 * Leisure Interests—2018, for "The Golden Age of BBQ" by Daniel Vaughn and Patricia Sharpe * Feature Writing Incorporating Profile Writing—2013, for "The Innocent Man" (part 1 and 2) by Pamela Colloff * Feature Writing—2010, for "Still Life" by Skip Hollandsworth * Public Interest—1996 and 2013, for "Not What the Doctor Ordered" and "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives" both by Mimi Swartz * Photography—1990 * Reporting—1985, for "The Man in the Black Hat" (part 1 and 2) by Paul Burka * Public Service—1980, for "Why Teachers Can't Teach" by Gene Lyons * Reporting—1979, for a three-part series by Richard West * Outstanding Editorial Achievement in Special Journalism—1974

==Archives== The complete archives of ''Texas Monthly'' (1972–present) are located at the Wittliff collections of Southwestern Writers, Texas State University.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://alkek.library.txstate.edu/swwc/archives/tm/index.html/ |title=Texas Monthly Magazine Archive at The Wittliff Collections, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX|work=Texas Uni. Library}}{{dead link|date=December 2013}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} * {{Handbook of Texas|id=edt10|name=''Texas Monthly''}}. Retrieved Apr. 13, 2005. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716180950/http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/awards.php ''Texas Monthly'' Awards]. Retrieved Apr. 13, 2005.

==External links== {{Portal|Texas}} * {{official website|https://www.texasmonthly.com/}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100601155832/http://m.texasmonthly.com/ ''Texas Monthly'' Mobile] * [https://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/research/a-z/txmonthly.html ''Texas Monthly'' Archives] at The Wittliff Collections of Southwestern Writers, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.

Category:1973 establishments in Texas Category:Lifestyle magazines published in the United States Category:Magazines established in 1973 Category:Magazines published in Texas Category:Magazines published in Austin, Texas Category:Monthly magazines published in the United States Category:Political magazines published in the United States Category:Culture of Texas Category:Texas literature