Thomas Zigal is an American writer.

Zigal at the 2019 Texas Book Festival

Early life

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Zigal was born in Galveston, Texas. He grew up in Texas City.[1] He attended high school in Lafayette, Louisiana and lived in New Orleans for four years in the 1980s and 1990s.[2] Zigal was a victim of Hurricane Carla, which destroyed the family home in Texas City when he was a child.[2]

Career

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As of 2014, he lived in Austin, Texas.[1]

Recognition

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In 2014 Zigal won the Jesse Jones Award given by the Texas Institute of Letters in the fiction category for his 2013 novel, Many Rivers to Cross.[1][3] Judges cited his "keen ear for the language of Hurricane Katrina victims, most of whom were African-Americans."[1]

Many Rivers to Cross is the story of two grandfathers trying to find their common grandchildren in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.[2]

Zigal is the author of the Kurt Muller Mysteries, a series of crime novels set in Aspen, Colorado, and of a literary thriller, The White League.[4][5] The White League is the first of his projected series of New Orleans novels. Many Rivers to Cross is the second novel in the series.[2]

Books

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  • Many Rivers to Cross (TCU Press, 2013)[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Waddington, Chris (7 April 2014). "Thomas Zigal wins top Texas book prize for Katrina-themed novel set in New Orleans". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Gross, Joe (28 September 2013). "Austin author Thomas Zigal pens a novel about the days after Hurricane Katrina". Austin American-Statesman.
  3. ^ Galehouse, Maggie (13 April 2014). "Winners of Texas Institute of Letters competitions". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  4. ^ "The White League". Kirkus. 1 February 2005. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  5. ^ "The White League". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  6. ^ Galehouse, Maggie (11 April 2014). "13 new books with a Lone Star flavor". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 21 October 2015.