Will Rogers Medallion Awards to honor John Kennedy, Kevin Costner and top Western voices

By AI, Created 4:36 AM UTC, June 03, 2026, /AGP/ – The 2026 Will Rogers Medallion Awards will recognize Senator John Kennedy, Kevin Costner, Doris Kearns Goodwin and other major Western authors and filmmakers on Oct. 31 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The awards span 30 categories and spotlight books, film and music tied to the American West.

Why it matters: - The Will Rogers Medallion Awards highlight how Western storytelling still draws major names in literature, film and history. - The 2026 honorees include a U.S. senator, an Academy Award winner and a Pulitzer Prize recipient, underscoring the awards’ reach beyond genre publishing. - The program also elevates contemporary work that preserves and reinterprets Western culture across books, film and music.

What happened: - The 2026 Will Rogers Medallion Awards announced honorees in 30 categories focused on the American West, its cultural heritage and storytelling traditions. - The awards will be presented Oct. 31 at River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma. - Honorees include Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, Kevin Costner, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Anne Hillerman, Craig Johnson and Chris Enss. - The awards are named for Will Rogers, the American humorist and performer who lived from 1879 to 1935.

The details: - Western Humor honorees include John Kennedy for How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will from HarperCollins, Reavis Z. Wortham for “Directions” and Jerry Zezima for The More the Merrier. - Western Biographies/Memoirs honorees include Mark Archuleta for The Reel Thrilling Events of Bank Robber Henry Starr, Chris Enss for The Sharpshooter and the Showman and Bill Markley for The Life and Times of Jim Bridger. - Western Nonfiction honorees include Paul Andrew Hutton for The Undiscovered Country, James B. Mills for In the Days of Billy the Kid and Nancy K. Williams for Colorado Outlaws and Lawmen. - Western Short Nonfiction honorees include Chris Enss for “Dr. Sofie Herzog: The Gunfighter’s Physician,” Michael Norman for “A Man of Two Worlds” and W.K. Stratton for “In Search of the Night Herder.” - Western Traditional Fiction honorees include Chris Mullen for The Reckoning of Men, D.N. Sample for Cold Powder Vengeance and Ron Schwab for Dismal Trail. - Western Modern Fiction honorees include John Bradshaw for The Blessing, Stephen Graham Jones for The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and James Wade for Narrow Is the Road. - Western Mystery honorees include Bruce Borgos for The Blue Horse, Anne Hillerman for Shadow of the Solstice, Craig Johnson for Return to Sender and Chris Mullen for Darkness Rising. - Western Historical Fiction honorees include Sandra Dallas for Tough Luck, W. Michael Farmer for The Apache Kid and Preston Lewis for Too Much the Lion. - Western Romance honorees include C.K. Van Dam for Iron Horse Claim, Lacy Williams for Love’s Healing Path and Karen Witemeyer for To Love a Beast. - Western Inspirational honorees include On a Midnight Clear by Misty M. Beller, Tracie Peterson and Karen Witemeyer, plus Wendy Klopfenstein’s A Secret Heart and Andrew Roth’s Crossing Paths. - Western Fiction Short Stories honorees include Michelle Ferrer for “Shadows in the Firelight,” Sharon Frame Gay for “Banner,” Rik Goodell for “Sailor’s Wisdom” and Michael Knost for “Come Necessary.” - Western Maverick Book honors Common Horse Sense from Will Rogers by Jennifer Rogers and Randall Reeder. - Western Photographic Essays honorees include Lynn Downey for 100 Years of Dude Ranching, Edward S. Curtis, John Graybill and Coleen Graybill for Edward S. Curtis: Unpublished Southwest and Caroline Joy Hadley and Cindy Monroe for At the Edge of Out There. - Western Cookbooks honorees include Mike Cox for I’ll Have the Chicken Fried Steak, Linda Ly for The Route 66 Cookbook and Sherry Monahan for Culinary Treasures. - Western Young Reader/Illustrated honorees include Linda Apple for Winston’s First Rodeo, Paige Murray for Rosie’s Ranch Rescue and Casey Rislov for A Home for Steamboat. - Western Young Adult Fiction honorees include S.J. Dahlstrom for Never Curse the Rain, Catherine Matthias for When the Sky Turned to Dust and R.G. Yoho for Destined to Ride Alone. - Western Poetry honorees include Kathryn Jones for The Solace of Wild Places, karla k. morton and Alan Birkelbach for Santa Fe Trail and John D. Nesbitt for At the Ranch. - Cowboy Poetry honorees include Rik Goodell for Ponderin’s, Mark Munzert for Pensive and Playful and Kye Rieff for Authentic, or Something Like That. - Cowboy Songwriting honorees include The Arizona Wildflowers for “My Good Horse,” Aspen Black for “As Cowboy as They Come” and Joel White and Randy Palmer for “5 A.M.” - Western Film—Drama Feature honorees include Broke, Wild Faith Christmas and Where the Wild Wind Blows. - Western Film—Documentary Long Form honorees include The Moccasin Speaks, Little House Homecoming and Kevin Costner’s The West: Oregon Trails. - Western Film—Documentary Short Form honorees include Today’s Wild West, Episode 704, Nita: Hotbed in Deadwood and Clayton Moore is My Father, the Lone Ranger!. - Maverick—Western Film honors The Seamstress.

Between the lines: - The category list shows the awards are built to cover a wide Western media ecosystem, not just books. - Kevin Costner’s documentary recognition and John Kennedy’s humor title suggest the awards reward both mainstream names and niche Western work. - The mix of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, music and film points to a broader effort to keep Western storytelling commercially and culturally visible.

What’s next: - The 2026 gold, silver and bronze medallions will be awarded during the Oct. 31 ceremony in Tulsa. - More attention is likely to follow for the nominated books and films as the event approaches. - The awards’ social presence includes the group’s Facebook page.