Kor The Transcript

The National Cowboy -- Western Heritage Museum announces winners of the literary categories for the 47th Annual Western Heritage Awards competition April 12 at the museum. The attending honorees will receive the Wrangler Award. This award is a bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback. The black-tie gala also will include film, television and music winners as well as inductions into two halls of fame.

Literary categories include: Western Novel, Nonfiction Book, Art Book, Photography Book, Juvenile Book, Magazine Article and Poetry Book. All categories are judged by qualified professionals outside the museum staff.

The goal of the awards is to encourage the telling of the great stories of the West with accuracy and artistic quality.

The category of Western Novel winner is Rilla Askew with her work "Harpsong." In this work Askew tells the story of Harlan Singer and his teenage wife. The story focuses on Oklahoma during the Depression. The couple takes to riding the rails, but never ends up in California as so many Oklahomans did. Instead they continue to return to Oklahoma. Askew is an author and teacher. She has taught creative writing at Brooklyn College, the University of Central Oklahoma, Syracuse University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Currently she lectures in the spring at the University of Oklahoma. Some of her works include "The Killing Blanket," which was selected for The O. Henry Awards.

Author Max Evans takes the Wrangler for his nonfiction book, "For the Love of a Horse." Evans dictates his lifelong experiences with horses. He shares memories of his first horse, Crickett, and of a seemingly laid-back horse named PDQ. Evans has won the Owen Wister Award for lifelong contributions to the field of Western literature from the Western Writers of America. He currently resides in New Mexico and has many other great works to his name such as "Bluefeather Fellini," "The Rounders" and "The Hi Lo Country."

"Charles M. Russell: A Catalogue Raisonn?" edited by B. Bryon Price lands the Western Heritage award in the Art Book category. The catalogue is a result of more than a decade of research. It was published as a combined effort between the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Mont., and the Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West at the University of Oklahoma. C.M. Russell worked as a cowboy and wrangler for the Judith Basin Roundup for 11 years before retiring to become a full-time artist. His detailed works of the American West are showcased in this catalogue.

Winner of the category for Photography Book is Nancy Wood with her work "Eye of the West." This work spans her career as a photographer. She focuses on the grassroots of many Western regions such as Colorado, the Utes, Taos, Pueblo, Pie Town and New Mexico. She is the author of "Old Coyote" and "Mr. and Mrs. God in the Creation Kitchen," which are based on Native American concepts.?

The Juvenile Book category award goes to Melodie A. Cuate with "Journey to San Jacinto." The historic adventure of the Battle of San Jacinto is recounted with a twist by Cuate. A group of modern-day children travel back in time and experience what life was like throughout the historic battle. Cuate is the recipient of the 2006-2007 Linden Heck Howell Outstanding Teaching of Texas History Award. She continues to write and conduct teacher workshops while living with her family in McAllen, Texas.

Author Paul Hutton takes the category for Magazine Article with "Silver Screen Desperado: Billy the Kid in the Movies,"published in the New Mexico Historical Review. Hutton is a professor in the Department of History at the University of New Mexico. Some of his achievements include receiving the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Documentary for "Mountain Massacre" which aired on the History Channel in 2005 and acting as the president of the Western Writers of America from 2002-2004. Hutton's historical focuses are U.S. history, frontier history, military history and popular culture.

The Poetry Book category winner is David Mason for his work Ludlow. This book recounts the battle for union organizing rights for coal miners that occurred near tiny Ludlow, Colo. Mason was born and raised in Bellingham, Wash. He has taught at Minnesota State University, Moorhead, and currently teaches at The Colorado College. Mason has prize-winning books in his repertoire like "The Buried Houses" (1991) and "The Country I Remember" (1996).

The Western Heritage Awards are open to the public and reservations can be made by calling 478-2250, extension 219. Ticket prices for Friday night's Jingle-Jangle Mingle are $25. The Western Heritage Awards banquet ticket prices are $150 for nonmembers and $130 for members.

For more information about the Museum or for a calendar of events, visit www.nationalcowboymuseum.org or call 478-2250.