The WILLA Literary Award, named in honor of Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Willa Cather, recognizes the best in literature, featuring women’s or girls’ stories set in the North American West, that are published each year.
The entry period for the 2026 WILLA Literary Award, for books published in 2025, is open November 1, 2025 to February 1, 2026.
Please read the Rubric for your Category before entering. Questions? Contact the WILLA Chair.
WWW is proud to announce the 2025 WILLA Literary Award Competition Winners and Finalists, representing the best published literature in 2024 for women’s or girls’ stories set in the North American West.
Winners and Finalists will be honored during the 31st Annual Conference, October 16 – 18, 2025.
Women Writing the West®
2025 WILLA Literary Award WINNERS and FINALISTS
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS
Winner: Laura Beth Dean, Georgia Jipp: Blizzard Pilot
Publisher: South Dakota Historical Society Press Editor: Dedra McDonald Birzer
Finalist: Clarissa Willis, Bloomers on Pikes Peak: the story of Julia Archibald Holmes
Publisher: Solander Press
Editor: Sharon Kizziah-Holmes
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Winner: Marcela Fuentes, Malas: A Novel
Publisher: Penguin Random House/Viking
Editor: Laura Tisdel
Finalist: Chelsea Bieker, Madwoman: A Novel
Publisher: Little, Brown
Editor: Liv Ryan
Finalist: Johny Weber, The Rodeo Road
Publisher: Hildebrand Books
Editor: JuLee Brand
CREATIVE NONFICTION
Winner: Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn, Loose of Earth: A Memoir
Publisher: The University of Texas Press
Editor: Casey Kittrell
Finalist: Jane Little Botkin, The Pink Dress: A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen
Publisher: She Writes Press
Editor: Lauren Wise
Finalist: Kate Hamberger, Dances With Fire: Lessons in Life, Faith & Firefighting
Publisher: Story Architect
Editor: Katie Hall
HISTORICAL FICTION
Winner: Natalie Musgrave Dossett, Sarita
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Editor: Nick Courtright
Finalist: Jane Coletti Perry, Lila’s Journey
Publisher: Mustard Seed Press
Editor: Nancy Moser
Finalist: Candace Simar, Sister Lumberjack
Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud
Editor: Angela Foster
MIDDLE GRADE FICTION/NONFICTION
Winner: Darby Karchut, The Horse Who Carries the Stars
Publisher: Owl Hollow Press
Editor: Olivia Swenson
Finalist: Janet Fox, The Mystery of Mystic Mountain
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Editor: Krista Vitola
Finalist: Jenny Manzer, Picture a Girl
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Editor: Sarah Howden
MYSTERY/THRILLER
Winner: Maria Kelson, Not the Killing Kind
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Editor: Toni Kirkpatrick
Finalist: Cynthia Swanson, Anyone But Her
Publisher: Columbine York
Editor: Shana Kelly
Finalist: Julie Weston, Salmon Moon: River of No Return
Publisher: Encircle Publications
Editor: Deirdre Wait
POETRY
Winner: m.s. RedCherries, Mother
Publisher: Penguin Books
Editor: Allie Merola
Finalist: Lucy Griffith, The Place the Spiders Waved
Publisher: Flowersong Press
Editor: Edward Vidaurre
Finalist: Ellery Akers, A Door into the Wild: Poetry and Art
Publisher: Blue Light Press
Editor: Diane Frank
ROMANCE
Winner: Anna Grace, Lessons from the Rancher
Publisher: Harlequin Heartwarming
Editor: Dana Grimaldi
Finalist: Leah Vale, All’s Fair in Love and Rodeo
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Editor: Sinclair Sawhney
Finalist: Shanna Hatfield, Luna
Publisher: Wholesome Hearts Publishing
Editor: Katrina Fair
SCHOLARLY NONFICTION
Winner: Cristina Devereaux Ramírez, A Story of Stories: The Texas Border Barrio Life and Writings of Doña Ramona González
Publisher: Trinity University Press
Editor: Steffanie Mortis Stevens
Finalist: Chris Enss, The Doctor Was a Woman: Stories of the First Female physicians on the Frontier
Publisher: TwoDot Books
Editor: Judith Schnell
Finalist: Camille Peri, A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher: Penguin Random House/Viking
Editor: Allie Merola
YOUNG ADULT FICTION/NONFICTION
Winner: Sheila Ruble, Cricket’s Choice
Publisher: Barking Dog Press
Editor: Sheila Ruble
Finalist: Alison Stine, Dust
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press/ Macmillan
Editor: Vanessa Aguirre
The 2025 WILLA Literary Award Categories
Contemporary
FICTION:
Entries will feature the stories of western women and girls set within the fifty years prior to the book’s publication date.
HISTORICAL FICTION:
Books featuring women’s or girls’ stories set in the North American West prior to contemporary times. WWW defines Historical Fiction as any story set a minimum of 50 years prior to the publication date.
ROMANCE:
Includes Historical and Contemporary.
Entries in the Romance Category should have a central plot focus on the development of a relationship between two people. The plot builds toward an optimistic conclusion without including the use of erotica or erotic themes.
MYSTERY/THRILLER
Mystery entries must feature stories which focus on a puzzling crime, situation, or circumstance that needs to be solved by the protagonist. Thriller entries must feature plots which give the reader heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, anticipation, and anxiety.
CREATIVE NONFICTION:
Entries are true accounts, well told, featuring the story of a woman or girl and set in the North American West. Includes autobiographical works.
SCHOLARLY NONFICTION:
Entries in this category are typically academic or
educational in nature. Scholarship, research, organization and presentation are some of the judging criteria. Includes edited diaries, also anthologies.
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS:
Entries must have a storyline that is appropriate for ages 4-8, with short, easy-to-follow sentences. They must also have a narrative that is easy to read out loud with pictures that match the story.
MIDDLE GRADE FICTION AND NONFICTION
Fiction entries can be written about issues important to modern day readers ages 9-14, such as divorce, bullying, but without foul language or sexual content. Nonfiction books should show the importance of research, with topics that challenge readers.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION AND NONFICTION:
Entries can range from young adult books with mature themes to picture books and graphic novels; from fiction to nonfiction to poetry.
The WILLA Literary Award Guidelines
Download The WILLA Literary Award Guideline PDF for complete information
Previous WILLA Literary Award
Winners and Finalists
DONATE TO THE WILLA LITERARY AWARD FUND
Your generous donation supports the annual WILLA Literary Award, which honors the best in published literature featuring women’s or girls’ stories set in all North America west of the Mississippi and includes Alaska and Hawaii. Donations of any amount are accepted throughout the year and are tax deductible!