Elizabeth Crook (born April 9, 1959) is an American novelist specializing in historical fiction. Her nonfiction work has been published in anthologies and periodicals such as

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

and

Southwestern Historical Quarterly The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

Biography

Born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Crook lived in

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and specia ...

and

San Marcos, Texas San Marcos () is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city is a part of the Greater Austin, Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell County, Texas, Caldwell and Guadalupe County, T ...

, with her parents, brother and sister until 1966 when the family moved to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where her father, William H. Crook, was director of VISTA for

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

. Later, the family moved to

Canberra, Australia Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city, and the eighth-largest Australian city b ...

, where her father was U.S. ambassador to Australia. Returning to Texas, Crook graduated from San Marcos High School in 1977. She attended

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

for two years before transferring to

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, from which she graduated in 1982.

Outreach and awards

Crook has served on the council of the

Texas Institute of Letters The Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit Honor Society founded by William Harvey Vann in 1936 to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. The TIL’s elected membership consists of the state’s most resp ...

. She is a member of

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction Western fiction is a genre of literature set in th ...

and was selected the honored writer for 2006 Texas Writers' Month, joining previous honorees O. Henry, J. Frank Dobie, John Graves,

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American author who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Got ...

Katherine Anne Porter Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 – September 18, 1980) was an American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, poet, and political activist. Her 1962 novel '' Ship of Fools'' was the best-selling novel in the United States that y ...

Elmer Kelton Elmer Kelton (April 29, 1926Kelton, Elmer (2007). - ''Sandhills Boy: The Winding Trail of a Texas Writer''. - New York, New York: Forge. - p.26. - . – August 22, 2009) was an American author, known for his Westerns. He was born in Andrews ...

Liz Carpenter Mary Elizabeth Sutherland Carpenter (September 1, 1920 – March 20, 2010) was a writer, feminist, reporter, media advisor, speechwriter, political humorist, and public relations expert. As the first woman executive assistant to Vice President ...

, Sarah Bird,

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

, and

Horton Foote Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, and the film, '' ...

. ''The Night Journal'' was awarded the 2007 Spur award for Best Long Novel of the West and the 2007

Willa Literary Award WILLA Literary Award honors outstanding literature featuring women's stories, set in the Western United States, published each year. Women Writing the West (WWW), a non-profit association of writers and other professionals writing and promoting th ...

for Historical Fiction. ''Monday, Monday'' received the Jesse H. Jones Fiction Award (the top prize) in the 2015

competition. Two of Crook's novels (''Promised Lands'' and ''The Raven's Bride'') were edited at Doubleday by

Jacqueline Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular fi ...

.List of Books Edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
. William Kuhn's website

Books

* ''The Which Way Tree'' (Little, Brown and Company, 2018) * ''Monday, Monday'' (Sarah Crichton Books: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014) * ''The Night Journal'' (Viking, 2006) Publisher's notes: "A young woman discovers the truth about her family’s mythic past." * ''Promised Lands: A Novel of the Texas Rebellion'' (Doubleday, 1993) Publisher's notes: "War is coming to the distant Mexican province of Texas, a war that will shatter one nation, create another, test the strength of family, and measure the worth of dreams." * ''The Raven's Bride: A Novel of Eliza Allen and Sam Houston'' (Doubleday, 1991) Publishers Weekly: "Details the abrupt dissolution of Sam Houston's 11-week marriage to Eliza Allen in 1829, an event that caused lingering scandal and speculation."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crook, Elizabeth 1959 births Living people 20th-century American novelists Baylor University alumni Rice University alumni American Western (genre) novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers