Lucia St. Clair Robson to Receive Western Writers of America's 2016 Owen Wister Award

ENCAMPMENT, Wyo., Feb. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucia St. Clair Robson, whose 1982 historical novel "Ride the Wind" won the Spur Award and remains in print 34 years after its publication, will receive the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Contributions to Western Literature.

The award, given by Western Writers of America (www.WesternWriters.org) as the nonprofit writers guild's highest honor, will be presented during the organization's annual convention in June in Cheyenne.

"Ride the Wind" tells the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped by Comanche Indians as a child in Texas in 1836, married a Comanche leader and gave birth to a son, Quanah, who became the last chief of the Comanche Nation. A native of Florida, Robson wrote the novel while working as a public librarian in Maryland. She has followed that New York Times bestseller with eight other historical novels, including "Ghost Warrior," about the Apache woman warrior Lozen, and "Last Train From Cuernavaca," a 2011 Spur Award winner set during the Mexican Revolution.

"Lucia St. Clair Robson has a unique ability to immerse herself and her readers in unfamiliar cultures, which she brings to life with a rare accuracy and sensitivity," said Kirk Ellis, the Emmy Award-winning writer of the HBO miniseries "John Adams" and incoming president of Western Writers of America. "Lucia matches unparalleled storytelling skills with a profound sympathy and understanding for people too often left on the margins of Western fiction. Her continued desire to explore uncharted territory makes her a worthy recipient of the WWA's highest award."

Western Writers of America was founded in the 1950s to honor and promote all forms of literature about the American West. Previous Owen Wister honorees include Pulitzer Prize winner N. Scott Momaday, distinguished historian Robert M. Utley and best-selling novelists Elmore Leonard, Tony Hillerman and John Jakes.

As an Owen Wister Award recipient, Robson will also be inducted this year into the Western Writers Hall of Fame, housed at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyo.

The Wister Award is a bronze statue of a buffalo created especially for Western Writers of America by artist Robert Duffie. It will be presented June 25 during the 2016 Spur Awards banquet in Cheyenne.

SOURCE Western Writers of America

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