A genre that Tragic has not had the slightest bit of contact with since he was a spotty youth is the Western, as in cowboys and girls- or whatever the acceptable contemporary politically correct terminology is.
It was with some degree of fascination then that he discovered the WILLA award for Women Writing the West. It is a constant delight how the specific niches of Book Award World honours literature that truly reflects the preference, or perhaps unspoken longings, of differing demographics.
The WILLA award is definitely worth a second glance with a strong scholarly and non-fiction stream as well as contemporary and historical fiction categories. The non-fiction category of the WILLA has recognised several books with which Tragic is familiar, particularly the excellent Full-Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School, Basketball Champions of the World
, by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith.In fact a look down the list of past winners reveals some very enticing titles. Interesting also to note how many of the Contemporary fiction contenders are a part of mystery series!
The award is named in honour of Pulitzer Prize winner Willa Cather
, and is awarded annually for outstanding literature featuring women's stories set in the West, by this they mean writing focused on the western landscapes of the USA and the women within them.
Willa Cather achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, works such as
O Pioneers!
,
My Ántonia
, and
The Song of the Lark
. Interestingly she won the Pulitzer in 1923 for
One of Ours
(1922), a novel set during World War I - a 20th Century version of a wild frontier if every there was. Cather grew up in Nebraska and graduated from the state university; she lived in New York for most of her adult life and writing career but drew her inspiration from western themes.
She was certainly an interesting person and to quote from Wiki:
"Apparently as a student at the University of Nebraska in the early 1890s, Cather sometimes used the masculine nickname "William" and wore masculine clothing. A photograph in the University of Nebraska archives depicts Cather dressed like a young man and with "her hair shingled, at a time when females wore their hair fashionably long.
Throughout Cather's adult life, her most significant friendships were with women. These included her college friend Louise Pound; the Pittsburgh socialite Isabelle McClung, with whom Cather traveled to Europe; opera singer Olive Fremstad; and most notably, the editor Edith Lewis. Cather's sexual identity remains a point of contention amongst scholars. While many argue for Cather as a lesbian and interpret her work through a lens of "queer theory," a highly vocal contingent of Cather scholars adamantly oppose such considerations.
The scholar Janet Sharistanian has written, "Cather did not label herself a lesbian nor would she wish us to do so, and we do not know whether her relationships with women were sexual. In any case, it is anachronistic to assume that if Cather's historical context had been different, she would have chosen to write overtly about homoerotic love."
Well said.
Her legacy and personality were certainly strong enough to inspire a literary award named for her with the WILLA Literary Awards first presented in 1999. Since that time, a few categories have been added and some revised. Each category is looked at annually to ensure that the award is given to works of highest literary merit.
The winners are chosen by a panel of twenty-one professional librarians with a leaning towards the west. The awards are presented at the WWW Fall Conference. Entries for the next WILLA awards must be in by the deadline of 1st February, 2011 for books published in 2010. Best get cracking for 2013 if you have a western yarn deep within wanting to manifest.
Categories include (or have included) Contemporary Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Scholarly Nonfiction,Historical Fiction, Poetry and a Children' category (dropped some years ago?) .
Tragic is not clear on whether it is a women's only award, noting that a 2007 finalist in the historical category was
Augusta Locke
by William Haywood Henderson (Viking) - William may be a pen name in honour of Willa?
2009 WILLA Literary Award Winners and Finalists
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER:
The Last Cowgirl
, by Jana Richman (William Morrow / HarperCollins Publishers)
FINALIST:
Hoodoo
, by Susan Cummins Miller (Texas Tech University Press)
FINALIST:
Wild Inferno
, by Sandi Ault (Berkley Prime Crime/Penguin Group USA)
Historical Fiction
WINNER:
Charley’s Choice: The Life and Times of Charley Parkhurst
, by Fern J. Hill (Infinity Publishing)
FINALIST:
Chances
, by Pamela Nowak (Five Star/Gale/Cengage Learning)
Poetry
WINNER:
Between Desert Seasons
, by Ellen Waterston (Wordcraft of Oregon, LLC)
Original Softcover Fiction (Trade or Mass Market)
WINNER:
Buffalo Bill’s Defunct: A Latouche County Mystery
, by Sheila Simonson (Perseverance Press/ John Daniel and Co.)
FINALIST:
In the Shadow of Rebellion
, by Gladys Smith (Llumina Press)
FINALIST:
River of the Arms of God
, by Irene Sandell (Eakin Press)
Children’s/Young Adult Fiction & Nonfiction
WINNER:
Dreams on the Oregon Trail
, by Barbara Linsley (Whitehall Publishing)
FINALIST:
Chipeta: Ute Peacemaker
, by Cynthia S. Becker (Filter Press, LLC)
2008 WILLA Literary Award Winners and Finalists
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER:
What the Thunder Said
, Janet Peery, St. Martin’s Press
FINALIST:
Spanish Dagger
, Susan Wittig Albert, Berkley Prime Crime/Penguin Group
FINALIST:
Deadman’s Switch
, Barbara Seranella, St. Martin’s/Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books
Creative Nonfiction
WINNER:
What Wildness Is This: Women Write About the Southwest
, Editors: Susan Wittig Albert, Susan Hanson, Jan Epton Seale, Paula Stallings Yost, University of Texas Press
FINALIST:
Navajo Women: Saanii
, Betty Reid, Rio Nuevo Publishers
FINALIST:
Fly With the Morning Dove
, Velda Brotherton, PublishAmerica
Scholarly Nonfiction
WINNER:
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life
, Pamela Smith Hill, South Dakota State Historical Society Press
FINALIST:
Searching for Fannie Quigley: A Wilderness Life in the Shadow of Mount McKinley
, Jane G. Haigh, Ohio University Press
FINALIST:
Picturing a Different West: Vision Illustration, and the Tradition of Cather and Austin
, Janis P. Stout, Texas Tech University Press
Historical Fiction
WINNER:
Harpsong
, Rilla Askew, University of Oklahoma Press
FINALIST:
Hearts of Horses
, Molly Gloss, Houghton Mifflin
FINALIST:
Tallgrass
, Sandra Dallas, St. Martin’s Griffin
Poetry
WINNER:
Raven Eye
, Margo Tamez, University of Arizona Press
FINALIST:
Table Walking at Nighthawk
, Carol Darnell Guerrero-Murphy, Ghost Road Press
FINALIST:
Tender Wild Things
, Diane Jarvenpa, New Rivers Press
Original Softcover Fiction (Trade or Mass Market)
WINNER:
A Tendering in the Storm
, Jane Kirkpatrick, WaterBrook Press/Random House
FINALIST: Shallow Grave, Lori G. Armstrong, Medallion Press, Inc.
FINALIST:
Lake of Fire
, Linda Jacobs, Medallion Press, Inc.
Children’s/Young Adult Fiction & Nonfiction
WINNER:
Exiled: From Tragedy to Triumph on the Missouri Frontier
, Louise A. Jackson, Eakin Press
FINALIST:
Paint the Wind
, Pam Munoz Ryan, Scholastic, Inc.
FINALIST:
Jeannette Rankin: Political Pioneer
, Gretchen Woelfle, BoydsMills Press
2007 WILLA Literary Award Winners and Finalists
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER:
The Girl from Charnelle
by K.L. Cook (HarperCollins)
FINALIST:
Quarry
by Susan Cummins Miller (Texas Tech University)
FINALIST:
Bleeding Hearts 
by Susan Wittig Albert (Berkley Publishing Group)
Creative Nonfiction
WINNER:
Montana Women Writers: Geography of the Heart
, Caroline Patterson, Editor with introduction by Sue Hart (Farcountry Press)
FINALIST:
At Home in the Vineyard 
by Susan Sokol Blosser (University of California Press)
FINALIST:
Drawing to an Inside Straight: The Legacy of an Absent Father
by Jodi Varon (University of Missouri Press)
Scholarly Nonfiction
WINNER:
Revolutionary Heart: The Life of Clarina Nichols and the Pioneering Crusade for Women’s Rights
by Diane Eickhoff (Quindaro Press)
FINALIST:
Touching Tomorrow: The Emily Griffith Story
by Debra B. Faulkner (Filter Press)
Children’s/Young Adult Fiction & Nonfiction
WINNER: Harvey Girl by Sheila Wood Foard (Texas Tech University Press)
FINALIST: Call Me the Canyon by Ann Howard Creel (Brown Barn Books)
The WILLA Literary Awards, celebrating the finest books published about the Women’s West during 2006, are sponsored by Women Writing the West . Awards and trophies were presented to winners and finalists at the annual conference held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, October 19-21, 2007.
The 2007 WILLA Literary Awards Winners include: back row, K.L. Cook and Lori G. Armstrong; front row, Caroline Patterson, Elizabeth Crook, Thom Tammaro and Sheila Wood Foard
The 2007 WILLA Literary Awards Finalists include, left to right: Debra B. Faulkner, Susan Cummins Miller, William Haywood Henderson, Jane Kirkpatrick, Laurie Wagner Buyer and Ann Howard Creel
2006 WILLA Literary Award Winners and Finalists
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER: Sky Bridge: Laura Pritchett, author; Milkweed Editions
FINALIST: Crazy Quilt: Paula Paul, author; University of New Mexico Press
FINALIST: Return to Abo: Sharon Niederman, author; University of New Mexico Press
Historical Fiction
WINNER: New Mercies: Sandra Dallas, author; St. Martin’s Press
FINALIST: Apache Lance, Franciscan Cross: Florence Byham Weinberg, author; Twilight Times Books
FINALIST: Sarah’s Quilt: Nancy E. Turner, author; St. Martin’s Press
Original Softcover Fiction
WINNER: Summer of Fire: Linda Jacobs, author; Medallion Press
FINALIST: Loving Mercy: Teresa Bodwell, author; Kensington Publishing
FINALIST: Loving Miranda: Teresa Bodwell, author; Kensington Publishing
Children’s/Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction
WINNER: A Heart for Any Fate: Westward to Oregon - 1845: Linda Crew, author; Oregon Historical Society Press
FINALIST: Anna’s Blizzard: Alison Hart, author; Peachtree Publishers
FINALIST: Under A Stand Still Moon: Ann Howard Creel, author; Brown Barn Books
Memoir/Essay
WINNER: The Lady Rode Bucking Horses: Dee Marvine, author; Globe Pequot Press—Two Dot Imprint
FINALIST: Child of Many Rivers: Lucy Fischer-West, author; Texas Tech University Press
FINALIST: If You Lived Here I’d Know Your Name: Heather Lende, author; Algonquin Books
Other Nonfiction
WINNER: Impertinences, Selected Writings of Elia Peattie: Susanne Bloomfield, editor; University of Nebraska Press
FINALIST: Pioneer Doctor: The Story of a Woman’s Work: Mari Graña:, author; Globe-Pequot Press
FINALIST: More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Nevada Women: Jan Cleere, author; Globe-Pequot Press
Poetry
WINNER: Beasts In Snow: Jane Elkington Wohl, author; High Plains Press
FINALIST: Refuge of Whirling Light: Mary Beath, author; University of New Mexico Press
FINALIST: Hill Country & Other Poems: Renee Walker, author; Fixin' To Press
2005 WILLA Literary Award Winners and Finalists
Memoir/Essay
WINNER: Into The Canyon: Seven Years In Navajo Country by Lucy Moore
FINALIST: Above The Clearwater: Living On Stolen Land by Bette Lynch Husted
FINALIST: Grace Stone Coates: Her Life In Letters by Lee Rostad
Nonfiction
WINNER: Isabella Greenway: An Enterprising Woman by Kristie Miller
FINALIST: The Quilt That Walked To Golden: Women and Quilts in the Mountain West-From the Overland Trail to Contemporary Colorado by Sandra Dallas
FINALIST: The Montana Frontier: One Woman’s West by Joyce Litz
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER: The Real Minerva: A Novel by Mary Sharratt
FINALIST: Last Lullaby by Denise Hamilton
FINALIST: Useful Girl by Marcus Stevens
Historical Fiction
WINNER: Tombstone Travesty: Allie Earp Remembers by Jane Candia Coleman
FINALIST: Where Heaven Begins by Rosanne Bittner
FINALIST: Four Souls by Louise Erdrich
Children's and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction
WINNER: Nothing Here But Stones by Nancy Oswald
FINALIST: E is for Enchantment: A New Mexico Alphabet by Helen Foster James
FINALIST: Justina Ford: Medical Pioneer by Joyce B. Lohse
Original Softcover Fiction
WINNER: Echoes by Erin Grady
FINALIST: Moon In The Water by Elizabeth Grayson
FINALIST: Higher Ground by Gladys Smith
Poetry
WINNER: I am Madagascar by Ellen Waterston
FINALIST: The Northwest Rainforest Pioneers by Claudia Harper
FINALIST: Cowboy Poetry: Turning to Face the Wind by Jane Ambrose Morton
2004 WILLA Literary Award Winners and Finalists
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER: All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki (Penguin Group USA)
FINALIST: Desert Wives by Betty Webb (Poisoned Pen Press)
FINALIST: Unpaid Dues by Barbara Seranella (Scribner)
Historical Fiction
WINNER: Silver Lies by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)
FINALIST: Fireweed: A Woman's Saga in Gold Rush America by Carolyn Evans Campbell (Georgetown Editions)
FINALIST: Matchless by Jane Candia Coleman (Five Star/Gale Publishing)
Memoir/Essay
WINNER: Predators, Prey and Other Kinfolk by Dorothy Allred Solomon (W.W. Norton)
FINALIST: Girl from the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronan by Ellen Baumler, Editor (Montana Historical Society Press)
FINALIST: Then There Was No Mountain by Ellen Waterston (Roberts Rinehart Books)
Nonfiction
WINNER: Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America by Linda Lawrence Hunt (University of Idaho Press)
FINALIST: A Widow's Tale: The 1884-1896 Diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney by Charles M. Hatch and Todd M. Compton, editors (Utah State University Press)
FINALIST: One Woman's Political Journey by Lynn Musslewhite and Suzanne Jones Crawford (University of Oklahoma Press)
Original Softcover
WINNER: Deliverance Valley by Gladys Smith (Stoneydale Press)
FINALIST: The Scout by Lynna Banning (Harlequin Historicals)
Poetry
WINNER: Original Fire by Louise Erdrich (HarperCollins)
FINALIST: Time Not Measured By A Clock by Carole Jarvis (Cowboy Miner Productions)
Children's/Young Adult
WINNER: Rodzina by Karen Cushman (Clarion Books)
FINALIST: Meadow Lark by Mary Peace Finley (Filter Press)
FINALIST: Words West: Voices of Young Pioneers by Ginger Wadsworth (Clarion Books)
2003 WILLA Literary Award Winners and Finalists
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER: Perma Red, Debra Magpie Earling (Blue Hen/Penguin)
FINALIST: Bad Faith, Aimée and David Thurlo (St. Martin's Minotaur)
FINALIST: No Man Standing, Barbara Seranella (Scribner)
Historical Fiction
WINNER: Enemy Women, Paulette Jiles (William Morrow)
FINALIST: Strength of Stone, Dianne Elliott (Two Dot/Globe Pequot)
FINALIST: The Chili Queen, Sandra Dallas (St. Martin's Press)
Memoir/Essay
WINNER: Breaking Clean, Judy Blunt (Alfred A. Knopf)
FINALIST: Between Grass and Sky, Linda M. Hasselstrom (University of Nevada Press)
FINALIST: When Montana and I Were Young, Margaret Bell; Mary Clear Blew, Editor (University of Nebraska Press)
Nonfiction
WINNER: Mary Colter: Architect of the Southwest, Arnold Berke (Princeton Architectural Press)
FINALIST: Mary Hallock Foote, Darlis A. Miller (University of Oklahoma Press)
FINALIST: Woman Walking Ahead, Eileen Pollack (University of New Mexico Press)
Original Paperback
WINNER: Small Rocks Rising, Susan Lang (University of Nevada Press)
FINALIST: The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas, Cynthia Leal Massey (Panther Creek Press)
FINALIST: Flight from Fear, Sarah Byrn Rickman (Disc-Us Books)
Poetry
WINNER: Miracles of Sainted Earth, Victoria Edwards Tester (University of New Mexico Press)
FINALIST: The Widow's Burden, Robert Cooperman (Western Reflections)
Children's/Young Adult
WINNER: Circle of Time, Marisa Montes (Harcourt)
FINALIST: Together Apart, Dianne E. Gray (Houghton Mifflin)
FINALIST: Whistler in the Dark, Kathleen Ernst (Pleasant Company Publishers)
2002 WILLA Award Winners and Finalists
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER: This House of Women, Paul Scott Malone (Texas Tech Univ. Press)
FINALIST: Heart of the Beast, Joyce Weatherford (Scribner)
FINALIST: The Jasmine Trade, Denise Hamilton (Scribner)
Historical Fiction
WINNER: The Good Journey, Micaela Gilchrist (Simon & Schuster)
FINALIST: The Water and the Blood, Nancy Turner (HarperCollins)
FINALIST: The Magic of Ordinary Days, Ann Howard Creel (Penguin Putnam)
Nonfiction
WINNER: Eye of the Blackbird, Holly Skinner (Johnson Books)
FINALIST: Sarah Winnemucca, Sally Zanjani (Univ. of Nebraska Press)
FINALIST: I'll Go and Do More, Carolyn Niethammer (Univ. of Nebraska Press)
Memoir/Essay
WINNER: She Flies Without Wings, Mary D. Midkiff (Bantam Dell)
FINALIST: Mountain Time, Jane Candia Coleman (Five Star)
FINALIST: Standing Up to the Rock, T. Louise Freeman-Toole (Univ. of Nebraska Press)
Poetry
WINNER: Blood Sister I Am To These Fields, Linda Hussa (Black Rock Press)
Children's/Young Adult
WINNER: Cissy Funk, Kim Taylor (HarperCollins)
FINALIST: Walk Across the Sea, Susan Fletcher (Simon & Schuster)
FINALIST: Boston Jane, Jennifer Holm (HarperCollins)
Original Paperback
WINNER: Across the Sweet Grass Hills, Gail Jenner (Creative Arts Book Co.)
FINALIST: Fragile Treaties, Faye Roberts (Western Reflections)
FINALIST: Death of a Songbird, Christine Goff (Berkley)
2001 WILLA Award Finalists and Winners
Contemporary Fiction
WINNER: The Spirit Woman, Margaret Coel (Berkley)
FINALIST: Smoke Eaters, Christine Andreae (Thomas Dunne Books)
FINALIST: Catching Heaven, Sands Hall (Ballantine)
Historical Fiction
WINNER: For California's Gold, JoAnn Levy (University Press of Colorado)
FINALIST: Alice's Tulips, Sandra Dallas (St. Martin's Press)
FINALIST: Soul of the Sacred Earth, Vella Munn (Tor/Forge)
Best Original Paperback
WINNER: Dead Man Falls, Paula Boyd (Diomo Books)
FINALIST: Painted by the Sun, Eliz abethth Grayson aka Karen Witmer-Gow (Bantam/Random House)
FINALIST: A Rant of Ravens, Christine Goff (Berkley)
Memoir/Essay
WINNER: One Degree West: Reflections of a Plainsdaughter, Julene Bair (Mid List Press)
FINALIST: Scrapbook of a Taos Hippie, Iris Keltz (Cinco Punto Press}
FINALIST: Naming the Winds: A High Plains Apprenticeship, Caroline Marwitz (High Plains Press)
Children's
WINNER: Horned Toad Prince, Jackie Mims Hopkins (Peachtree Publishers)
FINALIST: Ghost Towns: Seven Ghostly Stories, Joan Lowery Nixon (Random House)
The five winners are now in the running for the main £25,000 prize to be announced on 25th Jan. 
, by Michele Longo Eder (Dancing Moon Press)
, by Jane Kirkpatrick (WaterBrook Press)
, by Amy Irvine (North Point Press/Farrar, Straus, & Giroux)
, by John E. Miller (University of Missouri Press)
, by Marcia Meredith Hensley (High Plains Press)
by Elizabeth Crook (Viking)
by Jane Kirkpatrick (WaterBrook/Press/Random House)
, Joyce Sutphen, Thom Tammaro, Editors (New Rivers Press)
by Pat Mora (University of Arizona Press)
by Laurie Wagner Buyer (Ghost Road Press)
by Lori G. Armstrong (Medallion Press)
by Linda Jacobs (Medallion Press)
