On Saturday, October 4,  Lilian West – pen name for Tiffany Killoren – (pictured center) was announced the winner of the 2025 Thorpe Menn Book Award for Literary Excellence for Pretty Dead Things. Second Place went to Paul Lamb for his book, Parent Imperfect, and in Third Place was Deborah Shouse for Letters From The Ungrateful Dead. West was awarded $300, and the two runners up each received an award of $100. All three were presented a personalized framed certificate of their award.

John Moessner, 2024 Thorpe Menn Award winner for his book, Harmonia, was the keynote speaker at the Award Luncheon before over 70 attendees. The luncheon was held in the Auditorium at Woodneath Library Center, Mid-Continent Public Library. This was the 47th year the award, sponsored by AAUW-Kansas City Branch, was presented to authors
residing in the Greater Kansas City area.