The Booker Worthen Literary Prize is awarded each year to the best work, fiction or non-fiction, by an author living in central Arkansas. With a stipend of $2,000, it is one of the state’s most lucrative and prestigious literary prizes.

The Booker Worthen Literary Prize was established in 1999 in the memory of William Booker Worthen, who was a member of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) Board of Trustees for twenty-two years, as well as part of the Worthen Bank empire. The award is funded in part by interest from an endowment for the award donated by the Worthen family.

The Worthen Prize is awarded in a joint program with the Porter Fund Literary Prize. This generally occurred in October, but, in 2008, the year that CALS took over responsibility of the Arkansas Literary Festival (ALF), the reception was moved to coincide with the festival, although it is not an official part of the ALF. The winning book is selected by the Worthen Prize Committee. To qualify, authors must live in the CALS service area, which includes nearly two dozen counties in central Arkansas with which the library system has a lending agreement; there is a three-year period of eligibility based on a book’s copyright year. Three authors—Mara Leveritt, Kevin Brockmeier, and Grif Stockley—have won the award twice.

“Arnold’s Book, Poetry Collection, Win Honors.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 30, 2001, p. 5H.

“Laurels for State Literary Lights Make Dinner One for the Books.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 31, 1999, p. 10D.

“Porter Prize, Booker Worthen Literary Prize Presented.” Art Lines Online http://www.arkansasarts.com/news/fullpage.aspx?mid=l42 (accessed September 16, 2009).

Staff of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies