2015 Spur Award Category Winners & Finalists

Western Writers of America has announced the Winners and Finalists in a great number of categories for the 2015 Spur Awards. The Spurs will be awarded at the Spur Awards Banquet on June 27 at the culmination of the annual WWA convention, to be held in Lubbock, Texas.

Congratulations to my friends Patrick Dearen, Rod Miller, and Nancy Oswald for their wins! Rod's poem, "Song of the Stampede," was also a Finalist.

(I didn't enter the competition this year, since my latest novel wasn't a Western.)
~~~

Traditional Novel
Winner: The Big Drift, Patrick Dearen, TCU Press
Finalist: The Poacher's Daughter, Michael Zimmer, Five Star Publishing (Gale/ Cengage)
Finalist: Dance with the Devil, JD March, Five Star Publishing (Gale /Cengage)

Historical Novel
Winner: Wild Ran the Rivers, James D. Crownover, Five Star Publishing (Gale/Cengage)
Finalist: A Light in the Wilderness, Jane Kirkpatrick, Revell (A Division of Baker Publishing Group)
Finalist: Backlands, Michael McGarrity Dutton, Penguin Random House

Contemporary Novel
Winner: Bad Country, CB McKenzie, Minotaur / Thomas Dunne Books
Finalist: Any Other Name, Craig Johnson, Viking / Penguin Random House
Finalist: The Red Bird All-Indian Traveling Band, Frances Washburn, University of Arizona Press

Poem
Winner: “A Little Longer Than the Moment” Alan Birkelbach, Cowboy Poetry Press
Finalist: “Homecoming” Ken Hada, This Land Press
Finalist: “Song of the Stampede” Rod Miller, Pen-L Publishing

Storyteller/ Illustrated Children’s Book
Winner: Tasunka: A Lakota Horse Legend, Donald F. Montileaux, South Dakota State Historical Society Press
Finalist: Alice From Dallas, Marilyn Sadler (author) Ard Hoyt (illustrator), Abrams Books for Young Readers
Finalist: Tumbleweed Baby, Anna Myers (author) Charles Vess (illustrator), Abrams Books for Young Readers

Juvenile Fiction
Winner: Rawhide Robinson Rides The Range: True Adventures of Bravery And Daring in the Wild West, Rod Miller, Five Star Publishing (Gale/Cengage)
Finalist: Poison Spring, Johnny D. Boggs, Five Star Publishing (Gale/Cengage)
Finalist: Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky, Sandra Dallas, Sleeping Bear Press

Short Nonfiction
Winner: “Calamity Jane: A Life and Legends” Richard W. Etulain, Montana, The Magazine of Western History
Finalist: “Finding the American West in Twenty-First Century Italy” Renee M. Laegreid, Western Historical Quarterly
Finalist: “The American West in the Age of Vulnerability” Donald Worster, Western Historical Quarterly

Historical Nonfiction
Winner: American Carnage: Wounded Knee, 1890, Jerome A. Greene, University of Oklahoma Press
Finalist: Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico, David L. Caffey, University of New Mexico Press
Finalist: South Pass: Gateway to a Continent, Will Bagley, University of Oklahoma Press

Contemporary Nonfiction
Winner: Red Light to Starboard: Recalling the Exxon Valdez Disaster, Angela Day, Washington State University Press
Finalist: Wilderburbs: Communities on Nature's Edge, Lincoln Bramwell, University of Washington Press
Finalist: Wild Idea: Buffalo and Family in a Difficult Land, Dan O'Brien, University of Nebraska Press

Biography
Winner: Song of Dewey Beard: Last Survivor of the Little Bighorn, Philip Burnham, Bison Books - University Nebraska Press
Finalist: Tom Horn in Life and Legend, Larry D. Ball, University of Oklahoma Press
Finalist: The Life and Legends of Calamity Jane, Richard W. Etulain, University of Oklahoma Press

Short Story Fiction
Winner: “Fingers” Andrew Geyer, Steven F. Austin University Press
Finalist: “A Promise Broken, A Promise Kept” Vicky Rose, La Frontera Publishing
Finalist: “The Songbird of Saville” Vonn McKee, Western Trail Blazer

Juvenile Nonfiction
Winner: Edward Wynkoop: Soldier and Indian Agent, Nancy Oswald, Filter Press
Finalist: Battle of Little Bighorn, John Hamilton, Abdo Publishing Co.
Finalist: How the West Was Drawn: Women’s Art, Linda L. Osmundson, Pelican Publishing Company

Drama Script
Winner: The Homesman, Screenplay by Tommy Lee Jones, Kieran Fitzgerald, Wesley A. Oliver, Ithaca Films
No Finalist

Documentary Script
Winner: State of Jefferson, Kami Horton, Oregon Public Broadcasting
No Finalist

Song
Winner: “Charlie and Evangeline” Doug Figgs and Todd Carter
Finalist: “Cold Blue Eyes” Mikki Daniel, Dave Alexander / MD Productions
Finalist: “Lonesome Cowboy” Martin Conway

First Novel: Wild Ran the Rivers, James D. Crownover Five Star Publishing (Gale/Cengage)

First Nonfiction Book: Reshaw: The Life & Times of John Baptiste Richard, Jefferson Glass, High Plains Press