Texas Monthly was honored on Thursday by the American Society of Magazine Editors across several of its journalism awards. In the 2023 National Magazine Awards, TM was named a finalist in the Lifestyle Journalism category for its “Springs Eternal!” package, from the July 2022 issue. Edited by Kathy Blackwell and designed by Victoria Millner, the package featured more than three dozen explorations of how to enjoy Texas’s waters, with writing by David Courtney, Elizabeth McCracken, Maya Perez, Cat Cardenas, and many other TM contributors and staffers.

The National Magazine Awards are the Oscars of the magazine industry, and this nomination is the eighty-fifth such nod that TM has received in the fifty-year history of the magazine.

The ASMEs on Thursday also announced the finalists and winners of its Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration. Texas Monthly won Best Service and Lifestyle Photograph for “Pull Over!,” the photograph by Jeff Wilson on the cover of the October 2022 issue. In the Best Profile Photograph category, Texas Monthly was named for the opening photograph, by Peter Yang, that accompanied the “Mr. Steal Your Grandma” profile in the same issue. Congratulations to Claire Hogan, the photo editor on both of these pieces, as well as the entire art department at TM.

The magazine association also honored TM senior editor Jack Herrera with an ASME NEXT Award. Five magazine journalists who are under the age of thirty are selected for the ASME NEXT Award each year, reflecting their outstanding achievements so far in the magazine industry and “their potential to make significant contributions to magazine journalism.” Jack joined Texas Monthly’s staff as a senior writer in 2022 after working for several years as a freelance reporter, with writing in outlets including Politico, the Nation, TM, and the Guardian. Since joining TM, Jack has reported extensively on politics and policy along the Texas–Mexico border and hosted White Hats, a deeply reported narrative podcast on the legacy and legend of the Texas Rangers. As senior editor Bob Moser wrote in a statement nominating Jack for the award, “His groundbreaking reporting on South Texas explains the region’s cultural complexities in ways that have caught the attention of readers nationwide. And as host of the Texas Monthly podcast White Hats, Jack has brought curiosity, care, and elegant writing to the contentious subject of the Texas Rangers and their history of violence against Mexican American and Indigenous peoples.”

After reflecting on the news, editor in chief Dan Goodgame noted, “Magazine publishing is a team sport, and I’m proud of the role our whole editorial team played in winning these national awards and finalist designations. But I do want to call out those most responsible for the work that was honored: photo editor Claire Hogan, contributing photographers Jeff Wilson and Peter Yang, senior editor Jack Herrera, and executive editor Kathy Blackwell. We’ll all be pulling for Kathy when the winner in her category is announced on March 28.” ASME will announce the winners of the National Magazine Awards, as well as celebrate the ASME NEXT winners and the finalists and winners for the ASME Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration, at an awards ceremony in New York City on March 28.