As many of you know, we have a raffle at the conference to raise funds to support the WILLA Literary Awards.
The WILLA Literary Awards honor outstanding literature featuring women’s and girls’ stories, set in the West. Women Writing the West underwrites and presents the nationally recognized award annually. The award is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize winner Willa Cather, one of the country’s foremost novelists. The Finalist awards will be presented at the Saturday WILLA Awards Luncheon, and the Winners will be presented with their awards during the Saturday evening WILLA Awards Banquet.
Among the items that will be up for grabs at this year’s conference is this beautiful print by Joe Beeler, matted and framed in barnwood.
The Long Winter was the Tucson Festival Society’s limited edition print in 1981 when Beeler was selected as the Festival Artist of the Year. Beeler (1931-2006) was an American illustrator, artist and sculptor who specialized in the field of Western art. In 1965, he was a co-founder of The Cowboy Artists of America.
The Tuscon Festival Society, founded in 1950, was dedicated to celebrating and preserving the unique heritage of the Tuscon community. The month-long festival of Native-American, Spanish, Mexican, and Pioneer aspects of the city’s heritage took place annually in the spring until the non-profit organization disbanded in 1996.
The donation of the print includes shipping, in the event the winner is flying home.
If you have an item you’d like to donate to the raffle, please contact Pam Tartaglio, Raffle Coordinator, or Shanna Hatfield, Conference Chair. (Items that can be tucked into a suitcase are fabulous to contribute but please, no books.)
Our hearty congratulations to this year’s WILLA winners and finalists!
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
WINNER – Zetty by Debra Whiting Alexander
Luminare Press
FINALIST – Desplazado by Bev Magennis
Bosque Press
FINALIST – Burials by Mary Anna Evans
Poisoned Pen Press
HISTORICAL FICTION
WINNER – Stranded, A Story of Frontier Survival by Matthew P. Mayo
Five Star Publishing
FINALIST – Dry Run, Oklahoma by Lucinda Stein
Self-published
FINALIST – Mist-Chi-Mas: A Novel of Captivity by J. L. Oakley
Fairchance Press
ORIGINAL SOFTCOVER FICTION
WINNER – Hidden Ones, a Veil of Memories by Marcia Fine
L’Image Press
FINALIST – Light of the Northern Dancers by Robin F. Gainey
Untreed Reads
FINALIST – All She Left Behind by Jane Kirkpatrick
Revell
CREATIVE NONFICTION
WINNER – Women Artists of the Great Basin by Mary Lee Fulkerson, photographs by Susan E. Mantle
University of Nevada Press
FINALIST – Ordinary Skin: Essays from Willow Springs by Amy Hale Auker
Texas Tech University Press
FINALIST – Rough Crossing: An Alaskan Fisherwoman’s Memoir by Rosemary McGuire
University of New Mexico Press
SCHOLARLY NONFICTION
WINNER – Peace Weavers, Uniting the Salish Coast Through Cross-Cultural Marriages by Candace Wellman
Washington State University Press
FINALIST – Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of the Team that Barnstormed its Way to Basketball Glory by Lydia Reeder
Algonquin Books
FINALIST – America’s Best Female Sharpshooter: The Rise and Fall of Lillian Frances Smith by Julia Bricklin
University of Oklahoma Press
POETRY
WINNER – Rock Tree Bird by Twyla M. Hansen
Backwaters Press
FINALIST – Indian Love Poems by Tenille K. Campbell
Signature Editions
FINALIST – Pondering by Sally Harper Bates
Self-published
CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT FICTION & NONFICTION
WINNER – The Tragically True Adventures of Kit Donovan by Patricia Bailey
Albert Whitman and Company
FINALIST – Lily’s Mountain by Hannah Moderow
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
FINALIST – Bold Women in Montana History by Beth Judy
Mountain Press Publishing Company
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