For Immediate Release 
 

Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Medallion Award Winners
 

The Academy of Western Artists is proud to announce the winners of the 2006 Will Rogers Medallion Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Publishing of Cowboy Poetry.  The books, authors and publishers to be honored this year are:
 

“Buck Ramsey’s Grass”                        Editors – Scott Braucher and Bette Ramsey  

            Publisher- Texas Tech University Press 
 

“From My Window and other poems”  Author – Yvonne Hollenbeck

                                                            Publisher – Pine Hill Press
 

Will Rogers was a respected writer as well as cowboy entertainer.  The Academy hopes and believes that the AWA Will Rogers Medallion Awards will help to expand the heritage of literature which honors the traditions and values of the American Cowboy, which Will did so much to embody and demonstrate.  Additionally, the Medallion Award was created to encourage the continued upgrading of the quality of published books of Cowboy Poetry.   The honored books continue the establishment of this tradition of presenting Cowboy Poetry to the general public in an appealing and accessible manner. High quality publications like the books above invite readership in competition with many other forms of literature.  As with Will’s published words, we believe that Medallion books have that timeless quality which allows them to be enjoyed over and over again.
 

Outstanding books are the result of a collaborative effort between authors, publishers and printers, and the award criterion emphasizes production values as well as artistic merit.  The Will Rogers Medallion Award for Outstanding Merit/Excellence in Printing and Publication is awarded annually to those publishing houses that contribute the high production values, commercial viability and prestige to volumes of cowboy poetry.
 

The Medallion Awards will be presented during the 2006 Classic Country and Western Music Broadcaster’s Convention in the Eisemann Theater on September 25th through 27th.  The  AWA Will Rogers Medallion Awards are separate from the Buck Ramsey Cowboy Poetry Book of the Year, presented at the AWA Will Rogers Award Show.  These books are still in strong contention for that award.
The 11th Annual Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Award Show will be held at the Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, TX on September 26th.

Check the websites for more information on the upcoming events:
www.awa-awards.org/WillRogersAwards/index.html

www.classiccountrywesternmusic.com

Contact Charles Williams at 214-750-1362 for more information on the Medallion Awards
E-Mail  Charles Williams  cewcbpo8@sbcglobal.net