The WILLA Literary Award

The WILLA Literary Awards, 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. Women Writing the West (WWW), a nonprofit association of writers and other professionals writing and promoting the Women’s West, underwrites and presents the nationally recognized award annually at the WWW Fall Conference.

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WILLA Categories & Rubrics Guidelines Donate to the WILLA Fund

WWW is proud to announce the 25th Annual WILLA Literary Award Competition Winners and Finalists, representing the best of 2022 published literature for women’s or girls’ stories set in the North American West.

Winners and Finalists will be honored during the 29th Annual Conference, October 12 – 14, 2023.

Women Writing the West®
2023 WILLA Literary Award WINNERS and FINALISTS

MULTIFORM FICTION

WINNER: Happy for You: A Novel, Claire Stanford, Viking Books
FINALIST: The Road to Me, Laura Drake, Fiction Studio Books
FINALIST: Hardly Any Shooting Stars Left, B.K Froman, Iron Stream Fiction

HISTORICAL FICTION

WINNER: Woman of Light, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, One World
FINALIST: Hardland, Ashley E. Sweeney, She Writes Press
FINALIST: Beneath the Bending Skies, Jane Kirkpatrick, Revell

ROMANCE

WINNER: Henley, Shanna Hatfield, Wholesome Hearts Publishing

CREATIVE NONFICTION

WINNER: Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West, Katie Hickman, Spiegel & Grau
FINALIST: Spirit Things, Lara Messersmith-Glavin, University of Alaska Press
FINALIST: Apertures: findings from a rural life, Mary B. Kurtz, Shanti Arts Publishing

SCHOLARLY NONFICTION

WINNER: The Widowed Ones: Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Chris Enss and Howard Kazanjian with Chris Kortlander, TwoDot Press
FINALIST: Valley of Giants: Stories from Women at the Heart of Yosemite Climbing, Lauren DeLaunay Miller, Mountaineer Books
FINALIST: Rare Merit: Women in Photography in Canada, 1840-1940, Colleen Skidmore, University of British Columbia Press

CHILDREN’S FICTION AND NONFICTION

WINNER: The Other Side of the River, Alda P. Dobbs, Sourcebooks Young Readers
FINALIST: Amelia and the Magic Ponies, Sue Houser, Mariah Fox, Illustrator, Irie Books

YOUNG ADULT FICTION AND NONFICTION

WINNER: Meg and the Rocks, Katy Hammel, Plot Duckies
FINALIST: My Rock and My Refuge, Rachel Kovaciny, White Rook Press
FINALIST: Jean Landis WASP Pilot: 2500 Miles…Long Beach to Newark in a P-51, Sarah Byrn Rickman, Flight to Destiny Press

POETRY

WINNER: Prairie Midden, Athena Kildegaard, Tinderbox Editions
FINALIST: Making Silent Stones Sing: poems, Susan Cummins Miller, Finishing Line Press
FINALIST: Feeding the Fire, Twyla M. Hansen, WSC Press

Previous WILLA Literary Award
Winners and Finalists

WILLA Categories

View the WILLA Literary Award Rubrics below for help deciding which category your book fits into and for criteria info.
Click on the genre listed below to see if your book is eligible.

MULTIFORM FICTION:

Entries include a variety of genres such as literary, mystery, contemporary, or any fiction EXCEPT Historical or Romance.
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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.
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ROMANCE:

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.
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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.
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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.
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POETRY:

Individual collections or anthologies.
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CHILDREN’S FICTION AND NONFICTION:

Books featuring women’s or girls’ stories set in the West, which includes women’s stories written for young readers.
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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.
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