Eli Cranor awarded Booker Worthen Literary Prize

The 2026 Booker Worthen Literary Prize, presented annually in honor of the best book of fiction or nonfiction by an author living in Arkansas over a three-year eligibility period, has been awarded to Pope County writer Eli Cranor. Cranor, who lives in Russellville and teaches at Arkansas Tech University, received the prize for his novel “Mississippi Blue 42,” which was excerpted in the Arkansas Times before its publication in August 2025. Focused on the criminal underpinni