Hunting the American West Receives 2009 Spur Award

2009 Spur Awards Honor Best Westerns

Boone and Crockett Club's latest publication, Hunting the American West by Richard C. Rattenbury received a 2009 Spur Award for Nonfiction - Historical book. Winners in 16 categories were announced March 22 during the National Festival of the West. Winners and finalists will be honored June 16-20 at the WWA Convention in Oklahoma City.

Since 1953, the nonprofit Western Writers of America (www.westernwriters.org) has promoted and honored the best in Western literature with the annual Spur Awards, selected by panels of judges. Awards, for material published last year, are given for works whose inspirations, image and literary excellence best represent the reality and spirit of the American West.

LIST OF WINNERS:

ORIGINAL MASS MARKET PAPERBACK NOVEL: John D. Nesbitt, TROUBLE AT THE REDSTONE (Leisure).

FIRST NOVEL: Carol Buchanan, GOD'S THUNDERBOLT (BookSurge).

NONFICTION-BIOGRAPHY: Meredith Mason Brown, FRONTIERSMAN: DANIEL BOONE AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA (Louisiana State University Press).

NONFICTION-HISTORICAL: Richard C. Rattenbury, HUNTING THE AMERICAN WEST: THE PURSUIT OF BIG GAME FOR LIFE, PROFIT, AND SPORT, 1800-1900 (Boone and Crockett Club).

NONFICTION-CONTEMPORARY: Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith, FULL-COURT QUEST: THE GIRLS FROM FORT SHAW INDIAN SCHOOL -- BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD (University of Oklahoma Press).

SHORT FICTION STORY: Susan K. Salzer, CORNFLOWER BLUE (Untamed Ink).

SHORT NONFICTION: David A. Smith, OWEN WISTER'S PALADIN OF THE PLAINS: THE VIRGINIAN AS A CULTURAL HERO (South Dakota History, South Dakota State Historical Society).

JUVENILE FICTION: Tanya Landman, I AM APACHE (Candlewick Press).

JUVENILE NONFICTION: Frank Keating, THE TRIAL OF STANDING BEAR (Oklahoma Heritage Association).

STORYTELLER AWARD (Illustrated Children's Book): Alison L. Randall (writer) and Bill Farnsworth (illustrator), THE WHEAT DOLL (Peachtree Publishers).

SHORT NOVEL: Craig Johnson, ANOTHER MAN'S MOCCASINS (Viking/Penguin Press)

LONG NOVEL: Thomas Cobb, SHAVETAIL (Scribner)

DOCUMENTARY: Michelle Ferrari, KIT CARSON (American Experience, WGBH).

POEM: Linda Hussa, THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN (The Black Rock Press).

ORIGINAL AUDIOBOOK: Stan Lynde, VENDETTA CANYON (Books in Motion).

SONG: Jon Chandler, LINWOOD, (Western Dog Publishing BMI).

SOURCE Western Writers of America, Inc.