Almost a decade of research into poet Frank Stanford has made a Texas State professor a Pulitzer finalist, one of the highest honors in American arts and academics.
James McWilliams, a Texas State history professor, was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Biography for The Life and Poetry of Frank Stanford, released in July 2025. The book examines Stanford’s writing on race, class, language and death and reflects years of research into the poet’s overlooked life.
Stanford, a poet who grew up in Tennessee, lived from 1948 to 1978. He was known for his work in the American South, but McWilliams said his influence was widely overlooked which made his Pulitzer recognition even more satisfying.
The Pulitzer Prizes are among the most influential awards in America for academics, often honoring authors whose work reshapes public understanding of culture and history. Though his work was not motivated by the award, McWilliams’ finalist status places himself and the university’s humanities on a national stage.
“When it comes to recognition and awards, I do my best not to think about it. When I work, I think the most important thing is to put together a work of the highest integrity that you can do.” McWilliams said. “If you stay focused on the integrity and are lucky, you’ll get recognition. If not, you still have the satisfaction of knowing that you really put together a very decent work.”
McWilliams began the project about ten years ago while researching post‑WWII Southern culture. His initial plan was to write a broad cultural history on a multitude of artists and disciplines.
McWilliams said when he made it far enough through his first work, it would become too broad. So instead, he thought about someone who encapsulated everything he was trying to write about.
“I would get close [to finishing the project] and then my analysis would just break down, and so what I decided to do was take that project and turn it upside down and shake it and see what fell out, and Frank Stanford sort of fell out of that.” McWilliams said.
To encapsulate post-WWII Southern culture, he shifted to writing the narrative of a lesser-known individual, such as Stanford, who viewed culture through poetry. The book’s development went through numerous phases as McWilliams refined his research methods and continued to interview those who knew Stanford.
“I had interviewed over 200 people for this book. As a historian, [interviewing] was something I started out knowing very little about but got pretty decent doing it over the years.” McWilliams said. “I mainly interviewed those who were friends with Frank Stanford since he died in 1978, so they’re still alive, but I got to know them very well. People who I didn’t know when I started the book, I now know really well and talk to every day.”
Ben Cohen, a professor of environmental history and technology studies at Lafayette College, is a longtime friend and colleague of McWilliams. They met through common historical studies and a shared devotion to the humanities, cultural creativity and love of poetry. He said McWilliams’ commitment to every lead and detail he could find over the years stood out to him as admirable.
“[The book] was excellent from page one. I bought it the day it came out, sat on my porch and devoured it over the next few days,” Cohen wrote in an email to The Star. “It’s a hefty book, both in weight and content. It was absorbing, evocative, and kind of thrilling.”
McWilliams’ approach to research mirrors his teaching style, according to former student Tye Williams, a Texas State history alumnus. Williams said McWilliams emphasized strong writing, careful reading and analytical thinking in the classroom.
Over time and shared exchanges, McWilliams became his mentor, and they remain in contact. Williams said he read the biography after publication and saw the same passion McWilliams brought to teaching reflected in the book.
“[McWilliams] understood what he needed to do and [did] it correctly; he took his time and was passionate about it, it just shines through the pages.” Williams said. “Even without a nomination, [the book is] a massive success in my eyes because this is a story that needed to be told.”
McWilliams used skills he taught his students to conduct the best methods of research and commitment to integrity to write this biography. Williams admired him for his student‑oriented approach in class and his emphasis on strong writing, thoughtful reading and analytical thinking, skills he said he uses in day‑to‑day situations.
“There’s very few times you meet people in your past, and you think ‘yes, that person has changed my life.’ I can say without a doubt in my mind, McWilliams has changed my life.” Williams said. “His style of teaching, his matter of subject and just his nature has made me passionate about having a plan, a strategy, and executing it.”
McWilliams said his students teach him every day that conventional status and power don’t dictate the quality of someone’s work, and the recognition for writing about an obscure historical figure such as Stanford reinforced that idea.
“I was able to appreciate encountering and writing a figure like that better because I get to talk to my students about their experiences all the time,” McWilliams said. “[My students] are so smart, much smarter than me in so many ways; they come from a diverse set of perspectives where they approach life and face challenges in different ways.”
For more information on McWilliams’ Pulitzer recognition, visit the website here: https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/james-mcwilliams To buy the biography, visit the website here: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Poetry-Frank-Stanford/dp/1682262790
