Spur Award For Best Novel Of The West

This is a list of the works of fiction which have won the

Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

for Best Novel of the West: * 1953 - Best Historical Novel: "The Wheel and the Hearth" by Lucia Moore * 1954 - Best Historical Novel: "Journey by the River" by John Prescott * 1955 - No Award given * 1956 - Best Historical Novel: "Generations of Men" by John Clinton Hunt * 1957 - Best Historical Novel: "Silver Mountain" by Dan Cushman * 1958 - Best Historical Novel: "The Fancher Train" by Amelia Bean * 1959 - Best Historical Novel: "The Buffalo Soldier" by

John Prebble John Edward Curtis Prebble, FRSL, OBE, (23 June 1915 – 30 January 2001) was an English journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He is known for his studies of Scottish history. Early life He was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, but in 192 ...

* 1960 - Best Historical Novel: "From Where the Sun Now Stands" by Will Henry * 1961 - Best Historical Novel: "The Winter War" by

William Wister Haines William Wister Haines (September 17, 1908 – November 18, 1989) was an American author, screenwriter, and playwright. His most notable work, ''Command Decision'', was published as a novel, play, and screenplay following World War II. Personal ...

* 1962 - Best Historical Novel: "Moontrap" by Don Berry * 1963 - Best Historical Novel: "Gates of the Mountains" by Will Henry (2) * 1964 - Best Historical Novel: "Indian Fighter" by F.F. Halloran * 1965 - Best Historical Novel: (tied) "Gold in California" by

Todhunter Ballard Willis Todhunter Ballard (December 13, 1903 – December 27, 1980) was an American writer, known for his Westerns and mystery novels. Pseudonyms Ballard was a prolific pulp writer, most notably for the legendary mystery magazine '' Black Mask'' ...

& "Mountain Man" by

Vardis Fisher Vardis Alvero Fisher (March 31, 1895 – July 9, 1968) was an American writer from Idaho who wrote popular historical novels of the Old West. After studying at the University of Utah and the University of Chicago, Fisher taught English at the Uni ...

* 1966 - Best Historical Novel: "Hellfire Jackson" by

Garland Roark Garland Roark was an American writer (July 26, 1904 – February 9, 1985) known best for his nautical/adventure fiction. His first novel ''Wake of the Red Witch'', published 1946, was a Literary Guild selection and adapted later by Republic Pictu ...

& Charles Thomas * 1967 - Best Historical Novel: "The Wolf is My Brother by

Chad Oliver Symmes Chadwick Oliver (30 March 1928 – 9 August 1993) was an American anthropologist and science fiction and Western writer. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was a surgeon and his mother a nurse. When he was young he suffered from ...

* 1968 - Best Historical Novel: "The Red Sabbath" by Lewis B. Patten * 1969 - Best Historical Novel: "The White Man's Road" by Benjamin Capps * 1970-71 No Award given * 1972 - Best Historical Novel: "Chiricahua" by Will Henry (3) * 1973-75 No Award given * 1976 - Best Historical Novel: "The Kincaids" by

Matt Braun Matt Braun is an author specializing in novels of the American West. He has written fifty-six books, most of which are in the Western genre and has over 40 million copies in print.

* 1977 - Best Historical Novel: "Swimming Man Burning" by Terrence Kilpatrick * 1978-80 No Award given * 1981 - Best Historical Novel: "Aces and Eights" by

Loren D. Estleman Loren D. Estleman (born September 15, 1952, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American writer of detective and Western fiction. He is known for a series of crime novels featuring the investigator Amos Walker. Life and work Estleman graduated fro ...

* 1982 - Best Historical Novel: Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson * 1983 - Best Historical Novel: "Sam Bass" by Bryan Woolley * 1984 - Best Historical Novel: "Gone the Dreams and Dancing" by

Douglas C. Jones Douglas Clyde Jones (December 6, 1924 – August 30, 1998) was an American author of historical fiction, including alternative history fiction. As a boy, he had lived for a time in Fort Smith, Arkansas, adjacent to former Indian territory. Dougla ...

* 1985 - Best Historical Novel: "The Snowblind Moon" by

John Byrne Cooke John Byrne Cooke (October 5, 1940 – September 3, 2017) was an American author, musician, and photographer. He was the son of Alistair Cooke, and the great-grandnephew of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the 1960s he played with the Bluegrass mus ...

* 1986 - Best Historical Novel: "Roman" by Douglas C. Jones (2) * 1987 - Best Historical Novel: "Wanderer Springs" by

Robert Flynn Robert Conrad Flynn (born Lawrence Matthew Cardine; July 19, 1967) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Machine Head. Flynn formed the band along with Adam Duce, Logan Mader and Tony Cos ...

* 1988 - Best Novel of The West: "The Homesman" by

Glendon Swarthout Glendon Fred Swarthout (April 8, 1918 – September 23, 1992) was an American writer and novelist. Several of his novels were made into films. ''Where the Boys Are'', and ''The Shootist'', which was John Wayne's last work, are probably the bes ...

* 1989 - Best Novel of The West: "Panther In The Sky" by

James Alexander Thom James Alexander Craig Thom (born May 26, 1933 in Gosport, Indiana) is an American author, best known for his works in the Western genre and colonial American history which are noted for their historical accuracy borne of his painstaking research ...

* 1990 - Best Novel of The West: "Home Mountain" by Jeanne Williams * 1991 - Best Novel of The West: "The Medicine Horn" by Jory Sherman * 1992 - Best Novel of The West: "Slaughter" by

Elmer Kelton Elmer Stephen Kelton (April 29, 1926Kelton, Elmer (2007). - ''Sandhills Boy: The Winding Trail of a Texas Writer''. - New York, New York: Forge. - p.26. - . – August 22, 2009) was an American journalist and writer, known particularly for hi ...

* 1993 - Best Novel of The West: "Empire of Bones" by Jeff Long * 1994 - Best Novel of The West: "The Far Canyon" by Elmer Kelton (2) * 1995 - Best Novel of The West: "Stone Song: A Novel of The Life of Crazy Horse" by Win Blevins * 1996 - Best Novel of The West: "Sierra" by Richard S. Wheeler * 1997: W.W.A. changed the time-frame from 'year published' to 'year award presented' * 1998 - Best Novel of The West: "

Comanche Moon ''Comanche Moon'' (1997) is a western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the fourth and final book he published in the ''Lonesome Dove'' series. In terms of chronology, it is the second installment of the narrative. A Comanche Moon ...

" by

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

* 1999 - Best Novel of The West: "The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton" by

Jane Smiley Jane Smiley (born September 26, 1949) is an American novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for her novel ''A Thousand Acres'' (1991). Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a su ...

* 2000 - Best Novel of The West: "Prophet Annie" by Ellen Recknor * 2001 - Best Novel of The West: "The Gates of The Alamo" by

Stephen Harrigan Stephen Harrigan (born 1948) is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of the bestselling ''The Gates of the Alamo'', for other novels such as ''Remember Ben Clayton'' and ''A Friend of Mr. Lincoln,'' ...

* 2002 - Best Novel of The West: "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint" by

Brady Udall Brady Udall is an American writer. In 2010, he was appointed Writer-in-Residence of Idaho, a position he held until 2013. Biography Udall grew up in a large Mormon family in St. Johns, Arizona. He graduated from Brigham Young University and lat ...

* 2003 - Best Novel of The West: "Perma Red" by

Debra Magpie Earling Debra Cecille Magpie Earling (born August 3, 1957 in Spokane, Washington) is a Native American novelist, and short story writer. She is a member of the Bitterroot Salish (tribe). She is the author of ''Perma Red'' and ''The Lost Journals of Saca ...

* 2004 - Best Novel of The West: "So Wild A Dream" by Win Blevins (2) * 2005 - Best Novel of The West: "People of The Raven" by

Kathleen O'Neal Gear Kathleen O'Neal Gear (born 1954) is an American archaeologist and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Spur Award for best historical novel of the west, and two Special Achievement Awards from the U.S. Dept. of the Int ...

and W. Michael Gear * 2006 - Best Novel of The West: "High Country: A Novel" by Willard Wyman (which also won for Best First Novel) * 2007 - Best Western Long Novel: "The Night Journal" by Elizabeth Crook * 2008 - Best Western Long Novel: " The God of Animals" By

Aryn Kyle Aryn Kyle (born January 22, 1978) is an American novelist and short story writer. She is a 2008 recipient of the Alex Awards. Life Kyle was born in Peoria, Illinois and grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado. She graduated from Colorado State Uni ...

* 2009 - Best Western Long Novel: "Shavetail" by Thomas Cobb * 2010 - Best Western Long Novel: "Echoes of Glory" by Robert Flynn (2) * only five authors have won it on more than one occasion: Will Henry (3): 1960, 1963, 1972; (2) each for: Win Blevins 1995, 2004; Robert Flynn 1987, 2010; Douglas C. Jones 1984, 1986; Elmer Kelton 1992, 1994 American literary awards