Owen Wister Award
Encyclopedia
Owen Wister Award is an annual award
from the Western Writers of America
given to lifelong contributions to the field of Western literature
. Named for writer Owen Wister
(The Virginian
; 1902), it is given for "Outstanding Contributions to the American West".
Originally given for "best book of the year", it was expanded in 1967 to include anyone advancing Western literature.
From 1961 to 1990 it was called the Saddleman Award (sculptor Spero Anargyros; polished bronze statuette of a cowboy in Levi’s, saddle slung over his right shoulder, branding iron in his left hand ) and sponsored by Levi Strauss & Co.
. After Levi Strauss dropped its sponsorship, the award was retitled the Owen Wister Award for "Lifetime Achievement" in Western history and literature. From 1991 to 1994 recipients received an engraved bronze figure of a cowboy, since 1994 winners have received a bronze buffalo design on wood base from sculptor Robert H. Duffie.
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
from the Western Writers of America
Western Writers of America
Western Writers of America, founded 1953, promotes literature, both fiction and non-fiction, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional western fiction, the more than five hundred current members also include historians and other non-fiction writers as well as authors...
given to lifelong contributions to the field of Western literature
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
. Named for writer Owen Wister
Owen Wister
Owen Wister was an American writer and "father" of western fiction.-Early life:Owen Wister was born on July 14, 1860, in Germantown, a well-known neighborhood in the northwestern part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Owen Jones Wister, was a wealthy physician, one of a long line of...
(The Virginian
The Virginian (novel)
This page is about the novel, for other uses see The Virginian .The Virginian is a pioneering 1902 novel set in the Wild West by the American author Owen Wister...
; 1902), it is given for "Outstanding Contributions to the American West".
Originally given for "best book of the year", it was expanded in 1967 to include anyone advancing Western literature.
From 1961 to 1990 it was called the Saddleman Award (sculptor Spero Anargyros; polished bronze statuette of a cowboy in Levi’s, saddle slung over his right shoulder, branding iron in his left hand ) and sponsored by Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
. After Levi Strauss dropped its sponsorship, the award was retitled the Owen Wister Award for "Lifetime Achievement" in Western history and literature. From 1991 to 1994 recipients received an engraved bronze figure of a cowboy, since 1994 winners have received a bronze buffalo design on wood base from sculptor Robert H. Duffie.
Saddleman
- Saddleman honorees are:
- 1961: Will HenryHenry Wilson AllenHenry Wilson Allen was an American author and screenwriter. He used several different pseudonyms for his works. His 50+ novels of the American West were published under the pen names Will Henry and Clay Fisher...
- 1962: Jeanne Williams
- 1963: Fred GroveFred GroveFred Grove was a Native American author and winner of five prestigious "Spur Awards" from Western Writers of America for his western novels. He was born in Hominy, Oklahoma.-Biography:...
- 1964: Mari SandozMari SandozMari Susette Sandoz was a novelist, biographer, lecturer, and teacher. She was one of Nebraska's foremost writers, and wrote extensively about pioneer life and the Plains Indians, and has been occasionally referred to as Mari S...
- 1965: Benjamin Capps
- 1966: Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
- 1967: S. Omar Barker
- 1968: Nelson C. Nye
- 1969: Frederick D. GliddenLuke Short (writer)Luke Short was a popular Western writer.Born in Kewanee, Illinois Glidden attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two and a half years and then transferred to the University of Missouri at Columbia to study journalism.Following graduation in 1930 he worked for a number of...
- 1970: John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
- 1971: Thomas ThompsonThomas ThompsonThomas Thompson may refer to:* Sir Thomas Thompson, 1st Baronet , Royal Navy admiral* Thomas Thompson , Perú footballer for Small Heath* Thomas Thompson , New Zealand politician...
- 1972: John FordJohn FordJohn Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
- 1973: Glenn Vernam
- 1974: W. Foster-Harris
- 1975: Nellie Snyder Yost
- 1976: Dorothy M. JohnsonDorothy M. JohnsonDorothy Marie Johnson was an American author best-known for her Western fiction.-Early life:...
- 1977: Elmer KeltonElmer KeltonElmer Stephen Kelton was an American journalist and writer, known particularly for his Western novels.-Biography:...
- 1978: A. B. Guthrie, Jr.A. B. Guthrie, Jr.Alfred Bertram Guthrie, Jr. was an American novelist, screenwriter, historian, and literary historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1950 for his novel The Way West. The author called himself "Bud" because he felt that Alfred Bertram "was a sissy name."-Biography:A. B. Guthrie, Jr...
- 1979: Lewis B. PattenLewis B. PattenLewis Byford Patten was a prolific author of American Western novels, born in Denver, Colorado. He often published under the names Lewis Ford, Len Leighton and Joseph Wayne. He used the last two names when writing in collaboration with Wayne D...
- 1980: C. L. Sonnichsen
- 1981: Louis L'AmourLouis L'AmourLouis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
- 1982: Eve Ball
- 1983: Bill GulickBill GulickWilliam "Bill" Gulick is an American author and historian living near Walla Walla, Washington. Gulick was born February 22, 1916 in Kansas City, Missouri and named Grover C. Gulick. Gulick went to elementary school in Hutchinson, Kanas and then attended Classen High School in Oklahoma City,...
- 1984: Dee Brown
- 1985: Leon Claire MetzLeon Claire MetzLeon Claire Metz is an American cultural historian, author, television documentary personality, and lecturer on the American Old West period. Metz has presented hundreds of his programs to groups all over the U.S. particularly in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona...
- 1986: Jack Warner Schaefer
- 1987: Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
- 1988: Don Worcester
- 1989: Wayne D. OverholserWayne D. OverholserWayne D. Overholser was an American Western writer. Overholser won the 1953 First Spur Award for best novel for Lawman using the pseudonym Lee Leighton...
- 1990: Max EvansMax EvansMaxwell "Max" Evans is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell...
- 1961: Will Henry
Owen Wister
- Owen Wister honorees are:
- 1991: Glendon SwarthoutGlendon SwarthoutGlendon Fred Swarthout was an American writer.-Life:Glendon Swarthout was the only child of Fred and Lila Swarthout, a banker and a homemaker. Swarthout is a Dutch name from the area around Groningen, in the Netherlands, and his mother’s maiden name was Chubb, from English farmers of Yorkshire...
- 1992: Tom LeaThomas C. Lea, IIIThomas Calloway "Tom" Lea, III was a noted American muralist, illustrator, artist, war correspondent, novelist, and historian....
- 1993: Douglas C. JonesDouglas C. JonesDouglas Clyde Jones was an American author of historical fiction, including alternative history fiction. As a boy, he had lived for a time in Fort Smith, Arkansas, adjacent to former Indian territory....
- 1994: Robert M. UtleyRobert M. UtleyRobert Marshall Utley is an author and historian who has written sixteen books on the history of the American West. He was a former chief historian of the National Park Service. Fellow historians commend Utley as the finest historian of the American frontier in the 19th century.The Western History...
- 1995: Gordon D. ShirreffsGordon D. ShirreffsGordon D. Shirreffs was a U.S. author, known mostly for writing Western and juvenile novels. He also wrote a teleplay. Two of his novels, Judas Gun and Rio Bravo, were made into movies...
- 1996: David LavenderDavid LavenderDavid Sievert Lavender was an American historian and writer of the Western United States. He published more than 40 books, including two novels, several children's books, and a memoir. Unlike his two prominent contemporaries, Bernard DeVoto and Wallace Stegner, Lavender was not an academic...
- 1997: José Cisneros
- No award was given in 1998.
- 1999: Norman Zollinger
- 2000: Dale L. WalkerDale L. WalkerDale L. Walker , an award-winning American writer, was born in Decatur, Illinois, but has spent most of his life in El Paso, Texas. The author of twenty-three books, he has also served as a television reporter, editor, news and information officer, university press director, freelance writer,...
- 2001: Richard S. WheelerRichard S. WheelerRichard S. Wheeler is the award-winning novelist of over sixty books about the American West, including the Barnaby Skye series of novels...
- 2002: David Dary
- 2003: Don ColdsmithDon ColdsmithDon Coldsmith was an American author of primarily Western fiction. A past president of Western Writers of America, Coldsmith wrote more than 40 books, as well as hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles...
- 2004: Matt BraunMatt BraunMatt Braun is an author specializing in fictional stories of the American West. He has written fifty-six books, most of which are in the Western genre and has over 40 million copies in print....
- 2005: Judy Alter
- 2006: Andrew J. Fenady
- 2007: John JakesJohn JakesJohn William Jakes is an American writer, best known for American historical fiction.-Early life and education:...
- 2008: Tony HillermanTony HillermanTony Hillerman was an award-winning American author of detective novels and non-fiction works best known for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels...
- 2009: Elmore LeonardElmore LeonardElmore John Leonard Jr. , better known as Elmore Leonard, is an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.Among his...
- 2010: N. Scott MomadayN. Scott MomadayNavarre Scott Momaday is a Kiowa-Cherokee Pulitzer Prize-winning writer from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona.-Background:...
- 2011: James A. Crutchfield
- 1991: Glendon Swarthout