Don’t believe what you’ve read about the death of books—Houston’s literary scene is thriving. Independent bookstores, reading spaces, and multiple library systems keep the city well-stocked, and Space City is home to authors with stories as diverse as the region itself. Whether emerging or established, their literary voices mirror the city’s refusal to fit into a single narrative. Summer is also the perfect time to explore a new author or genre. So if you’re roadtripping, beach-bound, or parked on the couch, keep your eyes on these five Houston authors amplifying the local literary world.

Anna Meriano’s novels for middle grade and young adult readers take place in the Houston area and are perfect for those who love to dive into a character’s
journey. Inspired by how reading helped her understand and navigate life as she was growing up, Meriano enjoys writing characters who are searching for their place in the world, usually while getting into trouble and making a mess along the way. Her Love Sugar Magic series tells the story of a young Mexican American girl who discovers her family bakery’s witchy secret and learns to use her own magical powers (or at least she tries to). Both set in Houston, This Is How We Fly and It Sounds Like This are realistic fiction stories about high school students finding themselves and their people in extracurricular activities. “Most popular depictions of Texas tend to lean into unflattering stereotypes about our state, so I really enjoy showing off Houston for the swampy, diverse, unique city it is,” Meriano says.

The author is currently working on her next middle grade novel, Marina Versus the Mermaids. The story swirls around a secret community of Galveston-based mermaids and the teenager who finds herself in conflict with both her family and identity when she fails to transform into one of the mythical beings on her birthday.

John Merullo’s fantastical series, the Brimmerverse, revolves around a multigenerational family with supernatural abilities and political ambitions. The first two novels in a planned series of seven, Behold All the Dwellers Upon Earth and Most Heartily We Beseech Thee blend elements of fantasy, political intrigue, and LGBTQ+ themes into what he describes as a kind of “Anglican fantasy,”
where the divine is both closer and stranger than anyone expects. Merullo notes that his “religious views are present, but with no intent to proselytize.” While the first books are primarily set in Boston and Washington, DC, a future installment will take place in Houston.

Merullo is also the founder of the Houston LGBTQ+ Independent Author Fair, first held in 2025 at the Montrose Center, with a second planned for August 2026.

Helena Greer’s first love was poetry, but she’s always been a romance reader. Enamored with “the vastness of the romance genre,” she eventually felt inspired enough to leap into writing it. “There are so many different ways to tell a story of two (or more) people falling in love,” she says. Her Hallmark-coded novels—Season of Life, For Never & Always, and Hers for the Weekend—feature a cast of true-to-life queer characters and blend classic rom-com tropes with deeper themes of identity, faith, and found families. A Jewish-run Christmas tree farm serves as the backdrop, creating a clever twist in which opposites attract in more than a few surprising ways.

Greer is currently working on a paranormal novel about wolf shifters whose grandmothers try to matchmake them at a Rosh Hashanah dinner, and a fantasy novel about a con-artist clairvoyant on the run from her powerful family.

Bryan Washington’s novels are a fusion of Houston’s most indelible—and edible—qualities. His work often centers on food, bringing his characters’ lives together as he builds quiet, emotionally layered stories that focus less on plot-driven drama and more on subtle, often unspoken tensions that shape everyday relationships. A 2024 Lambda Literary Award winner, Family Meal revolves around Cam after the death of his partner. He returns to Houston, where he reconnects with his childhood best friend, TJ, and TJ’s family while working at their bakery. Through themes of queerness, cultural identity, grief, and chosen family, Washington’s work offers a deeply human look at how we create meaning in a complicated world. His prose is easily savored, like a recipe that’s worth the wait.

Washington’s latest novel, Palaver, is equally intimate and expansive, taking readers from Japan (another of the author’s former stomping grounds) to Houston and Jamaica as a mother and son wrestle with the distances between them.

Sim Kern’s work blazes with all the fiery intensity of the bright, hot sun—blending climate fiction and character-driven storytelling to explore social justice and human resilience. Kern is deeply inspired by a life lived on Houston’s Gulf Coast, fueling their frustration with local politicians unwilling to address the ravages of an onslaught of climate crises. Also known for their environmental journalism, Kern’s work offers thoughtful, often unconventional, visions of the future, encouraging readers to reflect on current social challenges while imagining alternative ways of living and organizing society.

Last year, they published Genocide Bad: Notes on Palestine, Jewish History, and Collective Liberation, a book of 10 unapologetic essays that dismantle propaganda and imperialism with sharp yet hopeful critique. Kern’s 2023 novel, The Free People’s Village, imagines an alternate timeline in which an English teacher by day and queer punk guitarist by night grapples with injustice in historically Black Houston neighborhoods.

Kern stays active as @sim_bookstagrams_badly on Instagram, speaking out about HISD school board issues and local and international politics from a queer, leftist, anticolonial Jewish perspective. They also created the first #TransRightsReadathon in 2023 to encourage people to read more books by trans authors and raise funds for trans rights organizations. Look for their next book in 2027. The Ba’al Shem’s Traveling Apothecary will explore Jewish historiography set in the mid-seventeenth century.