Spur Award for Best Novel of the West
The Spur Award for Best Novel of the West is a category formerly used by the Western Writers of America (WWA) as part of the annual Spur Awards. It was introduced for the awards' 1988 iteration, replacing the earlier category of Best Historical Novel.[1]
For a period, the Spur Awards included a Best Western Novel category as well as a Best Novel of the West category. John Mort explains the distinction in his book Read the High Country: "WWA defines Westerns... in market terms. A Western novel is a 'traditional' tale of revenge, rival cattlemen at war, or settlers fighting Indians. Owen Wister's The Virginian is a famous example, as well as Louis L'Amour's Hondo. A 'novel of the West' is what's otherwise known as a historical, where characterizations are based around historical events, and historical personages such as Davy Crockett, George Armstrong Custer, and Crazy Horse become characters."[2]
During 2000, the official Spurs Award website defined both categories as "book-length novels... dependent in whole or in part on settings, characters, conditions, or customs indigenous to the American West or early frontier," the distinction being that Best Western Novel was for works "90,000 words or less" while Best Novel of the West was for works "90,000 words or more."[3]
The category was used for the final time in the 2006 iteration of the Spur Awards. After that, the awards' categorization system was reworked, with the new categories of Best Short Novel and Best Long Novel introduced. This division remained until the 2014 awards, which removed Best Short Novel and Best Long Novel and re-added Best Western Historical Novel, also introducing the new categories Best Western Contemporary Novel and Best Western Historical Novel.[1]
List of Winners[edit]
- 1953 - Best Historical Novel: "The Wheel and the Hearth" by Lucia Moore
- 1954 - Best Historical Novel: "Journey by the River" by John Prescott
- 1955 - No Award given
- 1956 - Best Historical Novel: "Generations of Men" by John Clinton Hunt
- 1957 - Best Historical Novel: "Silver Mountain" by Dan Cushman
- 1958 - Best Historical Novel: "The Fancher Train" by Amelia Bean
- 1959 - Best Historical Novel: "The Buffalo Soldier" by John Prebble
- 1960 - Best Historical Novel: "From Where the Sun Now Stands" by Will Henry
- 1961 - Best Historical Novel: "The Winter War" by William Wister Haines
- 1962 - Best Historical Novel: "Moontrap" by Don Berry
- 1963 - Best Historical Novel: "Gates of the Mountains" by Will Henry (2)
- 1964 - Best Historical Novel: "Indian Fighter" by F.F. Halloran
- 1965 - Best Historical Novel: (tied) "Gold in California" by Todhunter Ballard & "Mountain Man" by Vardis Fisher
- 1966 - Best Historical Novel: "Hellfire Jackson" by Garland Roark & Charles Thomas
- 1967 - Best Historical Novel: "The Wolf is My Brother by Chad Oliver
- 1968 - Best Historical Novel: "The Red Sabbath" by Lewis B. Patten
- 1969 - Best Historical Novel: "The White Man's Road" by Benjamin Capps
- 1970-71 No Award given
- 1972 - Best Historical Novel: "Chiricahua" by Will Henry (3)
- 1973-75 No Award given
- 1976 - Best Historical Novel: "The Kincaids" by Matt Braun
- 1977 - Best Historical Novel: "Swimming Man Burning" by Terrence Kilpatrick
- 1978-80 No Award given
- 1981 - Best Historical Novel: "Aces and Eights" by Loren D. Estleman
- 1982 - Best Historical Novel: Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson
- 1983 - Best Historical Novel: "Sam Bass" by Bryan Woolley
- 1984 - Best Historical Novel: "Gone the Dreams and Dancing" by Douglas C. Jones
- 1985 - Best Historical Novel: "The Snowblind Moon" by John Byrne Cooke
- 1986 - Best Historical Novel: "Roman" by Douglas C. Jones (2)
- 1987 - Best Historical Novel: "Wanderer Springs" by Robert Flynn
- 1988 - Best Novel of The West: "The Homesman" by Glendon Swarthout
- 1989 - Best Novel of The West: "Panther In The Sky" by James Alexander Thom
- 1990 - Best Novel of The West: "Home Mountain" by Jeanne Williams
- 1991 - Best Novel of The West: "The Medicine Horn" by Jory Sherman
- 1992 - Best Novel of The West: "Slaughter" by Elmer Kelton
- 1993 - Best Novel of The West: "Empire of Bones" by Jeff Long
- 1994 - Best Novel of The West: "The Far Canyon" by Elmer Kelton (2)
- 1995 - Best Novel of The West: "Stone Song: A Novel of The Life of Crazy Horse" by Winfred Blevins
- 1996 - Best Novel of The West: "Sierra" by Richard S. Wheeler
- 1997: W.W.A. changed the time-frame from 'year published' to 'year award presented'[1]
- 1998 - Best Novel of The West: "Comanche Moon" by Larry McMurtry
- 1999 - Best Novel of The West: "The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton" by Jane Smiley
- 2000 - Best Novel of The West: "Prophet Annie" by Ellen Recknor
- 2001 - Best Novel of The West: "The Gates of The Alamo" by Stephen Harrigan
- 2002 - Best Novel of The West: "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint" by Brady Udall
- 2003 - Best Novel of The West: "Perma Red" by Debra Magpie Earling
- 2004 - Best Novel of The West: "So Wild A Dream" by Winfred Blevins (2)
- 2005 - Best Novel of The West: "People of The Raven" by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear
- 2006 - Best Novel of The West: "High Country: A Novel" by Willard Wyman (which also won for Best First Novel)
- 2007 - Best Western Long Novel: "The Night Journal" by Elizabeth Crook
- 2008 - Best Western Long Novel: "The God of Animals" By Aryn Kyle
- 2009 - Best Western Long Novel: "Shavetail" by Thomas Cobb
- 2010 - Best Western Long Novel: "Echoes of Glory" by Robert Flynn (2)
- 2011 - Best Western Long Novel: "Last Train from Cuernavaca" by Lucia St. Clair Robson
- 2012 - Best Western Long Novel: "Remember Ben Clayton" by Stephen Harrigan
- 2013 - Best Western Long Novel: "With Blood in Their Eyes" by Thomas Cobb
- only five authors have won it on more than one occasion: Will Henry (3): 1960, 1963, 1972; (2) each for: Win Blevins 1995, 2004; Robert Flynn 1987, 2010; Douglas C. Jones 1984, 1986; Elmer Kelton 1992, 1994
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Winners -- Western Writers of America". Western Writers of America. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Mort, John (2006). Read the High Country: A Guide to Western Books and Films. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 9781591581345.,pp. xii, 415.
- ^ "About the Spur Awards". Western Writers of America. Archived from the original on May 21, 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2024.