August 25, 2016, 2018—Denver, Colorado– Women Writing the West (WWW) recently announced the 2016 WILLA Literary Award competition Winners and Finalists, representing the best of 2015 published literature for women’s or girl’s stories set in the American West. WWW is the underwriter and annual presenter of this nationally recognized award.
Chosen by professional librarians, historians and university affiliated educators, the winning authors and their books will be honored in Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 13-16, 2016, during the 22nd Annual Conference.
Among the honorees is Pequot Lakes author Candace Simar. Her novel ”Shelterbelts” (North Star Press, 2015) was recognized as a finalist in the Historical category. Sandra Dallas received a finalist award in the same category for “The Last Midwife” (St. Martin’s Press) and Cynthia Swanson’s novel “The Bookseller” (HarperCollins) was named winner.
“Shelterbelts”, Simar’s fifth novel, is set in 1945 Otter Tail County, Minnesota, and is described as moving, hysterical and disturbing. “Shelterbelts” was also a finalist in the 2016 Midwest Book Awards.
Jonis Agee, Award-Winning Author of “The River Wife” and “The Weight of Dreams” stated her review of the book in a news release: “Shelterbelts is a wonderful novel, full of vivid writing and fierce characters with a passion for finding their place in the world despite the cruelties of war and the realities of living on the land. Like Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg Ohio, this book explores the secret yearnings of the heart that promise to connect us if we take the time to discover them in each other. Readers are going to fall in love with Simar’s Tolga Township”
Simar previously published the Spur-Award winning Abercrombie Trail Series including “Abercrombie Trail” ; “Pomme de Terre”; “Birdie”; “Blooming Prairie”. In 2014 Five Star Cengage released the large print/hard cover versions of this series. In addition, she co-authored “Farm Girls”, published by RiverPlace Press.
WWW is a non-profit association of writers and other literature oriented professionals, writing and promoting the Women’s West. Membership is open to any person worldwide who shares these interests.
