Western States Book Award honored notable works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and translation written and published in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. The award was given annually from 1984 until 2002. Lifetime-achievement awards were also presented.

Winners

Fiction

*1984: ''The iguana killer: twelve stories of the heart'' by

Alberto Rios Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Alb ...

*1986: ''My amputations: a novel'' by

Clarence Major Clarence Major (born December 31, 1936) is an American poet, painter, and novelist; winner of the 2015 "Lifetime Achievement Award in the Fine Arts", presented by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. He was awarded the 2016 PEN Oakland/Reg ...

*1988: ''Sailing to Corinth: stories'' by Irene Wanner *1990: ''The devil in Texas (El Diablo en Texas)'' by Aristeo Brito *1992: ''Little altars everywhere: a novel'' by

Rebecca Wells Rebecca Wells (born February 3, 1953) is an American author, actor, and playwright known for the ''Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' series, which includes the books ''Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'', ''Little Altars Everywhere'', ''Ya-Yas in Bloom'' ...

*1993: ''The hedge, the ribbon: a novel'' by Carol Orlock *1994: ''MotherTongue'' by

Demetria Martinez Demetria Martinez is an American activist, poet, and novelist. Early life She was born on July 10, 1960, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a graduate of Princeton University with BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International A ...

*1996: ''A killing in New Town'' by

Kate Horsley Kate Horsley (born 1952) is the pen name of Kate Parker, an American author of numerous works of historical fiction, three of which are rooted in the Old West. Parker is also a professor of English at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuq ...

*1998: ''The flower in the skull'' by

Kathleen Alcalá Kathleen Alcalá (born 29 August 1954) is the author of a short-story collection, three novels set in the American Southwest and nineteenth-century Mexico, and a collection of essays. She teaches creative writing at workshops and programs in Was ...

*1999: ''The blossom festival'' by

Lawrence Coates Lawrence Coates is a novelist and current director of Bowling Green University's Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. Coates was educated at El Cerrito High School, University of California at Santa Cruz and University of Utah. He ...

*1999: ''Men on the moon: collected short stories'' by

Simon Ortiz Simon J. Ortiz (born May 27, 1941) is a Native American writer, poet, and enrolled member of the Pueblo of Acoma. Ortiz is one of the key figures in the second wave of what has been called the Native American Renaissance. Ortiz's commitment t ...

*2000: '' Straight white male'' by

Gerald Haslam Gerald William Haslam (March 18, 1937 – April 13, 2021) was an author focused on rural and small towns in California's Great Central Valley including its poor and working-class people of all colors. A native of Oildale, California, Haslam has r ...

*2001: ''The road builder'' by Nicholas Hershenow

Poetry

*1984: ''In all the rooms of the yellow house'' by

Nancy Mairs Nancy Mairs (née Smith; July 23, 1943 – December 3, 2016) was an author who wrote about diverse topics, including spirituality, women's issues and her experiences living with multiple sclerosis. Life Mairs was born on July 23, 1943, in ...

*1984: ''New as a wave: a retrospective, 1937-1983'' by Eve Triem *1986: ''Time and the white tigress'' by

Mary Barnard Mary Ethel Barnard (December 6, 1909 – August 25, 2001) was an American poet, biographer and Greek language, Greek-to-English language, English translator. She is known for her elegant rendering of the works of Sappho, a translation which has ...

*1988: ''Desire: selected poems, 1963-1987'' by

David Bromige David Mansfield Bromige (October 22, 1933 – June 3, 2009) was a Canadian-American poet who resided in northern California from 1962 onward. Bromige published thirty books, many so different from one another as to appear to be the work of ...

*1990: ''New poems, 1980-88'' by

John Haines John Meade Haines (June 29, 1924 – March 2, 2011) was an American poet and educator who had served as the poet laureate of Alaska. Early life John Mead Haines was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He was the son of a career Navy officer and moved fro ...

*1992: ''My name is William Tell: poems'' by William Stafford *1993: ''August zero'' by

Jane Miller Jane Miller (born 1949) is an American poet. Life Jane Miller was born in New York and lives in Tucson, Arizona. She served as a professor for many years in the Creative Writing Program at The University of Arizona—including a stint as its Dire ...

*1994: ''The fever of being'' by

Luis Alberto Urrea Luis Alberto Urrea (born August 20, 1955 in Tijuana, Mexico) is a Mexican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. Life Luis Urrea is the son of Alberto Urrea Murray, of Rosario, Sinaloa, Mexico and Phyllis Dashiell, born in Staten Island, New Yor ...

*1995: ''My town'' by David Lee *1996: ''Flying over Sonny Liston: poems'' by Gary Short *1998: ''Four-year-old-girl'' by

Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (; born October 5, 1947, in Beijing, China) is a contemporary poet. Winner of two American Book Awards, her work is often associated with the Language poets, Language School, the poetry of the New York School (art), New York ...

*1999: ''Communion'' by Primus St. John *2000: ''The brink'' by Peter Sears *2001: ''Bitters'' by

Rebecca Seiferle Rebecca Seiferle is an American poet. Life Seiferle has a BA from the State University of New York with a major in English and History, and a minor in Art History. In 1989, she received her MFA from Warren Wilson College. She taught English and c ...

*2001: ''Cool, calm, & collected: poems 1960-2000'' by

Carolyn Kizer Carolyn Ashley Kizer (December 10, 1925 – October 9, 2014) was an American poet of the Pacific Northwest whose works reflect her feminism. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985. According to an article at the Center for the Study of the Pacific ...

Creative nonfiction

*1984: ''A heaven in the eye'' by

Clyde Rice Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a to ...

*1986: ''The seventh dragon: the riddle of equal temperament'' by

Anita Sullivan Anita or ANITA may refer to: Arts * ''Anita'' (1967 film), an Indian film * ''Anita'' (2009 film), an Argentine film * ''Anita'' (2021 film), a Hong Kong film *'' Anita: Swedish Nymphet'', a 1973 erotic film People *Anita (given name), people w ...

*: (citation for merit) ''Having everything right: essays of place'' by Kim R. Stafford *1988: ''Mayordomo: chronicle of an acequia in northern New Mexico'' by Stanley Crawford *1990: ''The telling distance: conversations with the American desert'' by

Bruce Berger Bruce Nicolas Berger (August 21, 1938 – February 10, 2021) was an American nonfiction writer, poet and pianist. He was best known for a series of books exploring the intersections of nature and culture in desert environments. Berger's book ''The ...

*1992: ''Going back to Bisbee'' by Richard Shelton *: (citation for merit) ''Fruit fields in my blood: Okie migrants in the West'' by Toby F. Sonneman *1993: ''

Two old women ''Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend Of Betrayal, Courage And Survival'' is a 1993 in literature, 1993 novel by Velma Wallis, set in northeastern Alaska. Plot summary Long before the Europeans came, nomads roamed the Arctic, polar region of Alask ...

: an Alaska legend of betrayal, courage, and survival'' by

Velma Wallis Velma May Wallis (born 1960) is a Native American writer of Gwich'in Athabascan Indian descent. Her books have been translated into 17 languages.Jerome Washington *1995: ''Borneo log: the struggle for Sarawak's forests'' by William Bevis *1995: ''Downcanyon: a naturalist explores the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon'' by Ann Haymond Zwinger *1996: ''Wisdom sits in places: language and landscape among the Western Apache'' by

Keith Basso Keith Hamilton Basso (March 15, 1940 – August 4, 2013) was a cultural and linguistic anthropologist noted for his study of the Western Apaches, specifically those from the community of Cibecue, Arizona. Basso was professor emeritus of anthropolo ...

*1998: ''Chokecherry places: essays from the high plains'' by

Merrill Gilfillan Merrill Daniel Gilfillan (born 14 May 1945) is an American writer of poetry, short fiction, and essays. Life and work Gilfillan was born and raised in Mount Gilead, Ohio, where his outdoorsman father (Merrill C. Gilfillan) worked as a naturalist ...

*1999: ''Salt dreams: land & water in low-down California'' by

William Debuys William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

*2000: ''In these hills'' by

Ralph Beer Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

*2001: ''My story as told by water: confessions, Druidic rants, reflections, bird-watchings, fish-stalkings, visions, songs and prayers refracting light, from living rivers, in the age of the industrial dark'' by

David James Duncan David James Duncan (born 1952)
at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library,

...

Translation

*2000: ''The collected songs of Cold Mountain by Hanshan; translated from the Chinese'' by

Red Pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trun ...

*2001: ''The silk dragon: translations from the Chinese'' translated by

Arthur Sze Arthur Sze (; ; born December 1, 1950) is an American poet, translator, and professor. Since 1972, he has published ten collections of poetry. Sze's ninth collection ''Compass Rose'' (2014) was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Sz ...

Lifetime Achievement

*1984: Eve Triem in poetry *1990:

in poetry *1992: William Stafford in poetry *1999:

in fiction *2001:

in poetry

References

{{Reflist American literary awards Awards established in 1984 1984 establishments in the United States Awards disestablished in 2002 2002 disestablishments in the United States