The 2025 Western Writers of American Convention, held in Amarillo, TX this year, was Western Writers’ 72nd convention, and my first. What an honor it was to attend. An honor and an education to sit among so many polished writers of Western literature, http://WesternWriters.org an honor to hear the excellent and entertaining speakers, such as Craig Johnson, recipient of the Owen Wister Award for lifetime contributions to Western Literature, uplifting to listen to their tales, to learn about their journeys. Publishing a book is a tough road and a long trek. To do it twice, three times is a trek. But to write fifty, eighty! books is a globetrot.
At the Convention were hosts of prolific writers dedicated to Western Literature, which may be why it’s a Writers Convention, not a Writers Conference. Western Writers of America claims members from all across the U.S., as well as Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America, who celebrate and promote the timelessness of the American West through narrations of historic events, or stories about early settlers whose hardships helped build America. Both non-fiction and fiction, a reader will find rich, well-researched literature committed to preserving the history of the American West, or fictitious, adventurous grueling cowboy tales and well structured children’s books. WWA writers remain dedicated to the American Spirit and the western way of life.
I was there because I published a Contemporary Western Young Adult fiction novel, Nightflower of Comanche Mound, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D836QLVT and for it, my book was chosen a Spur Finalist, a coveted award to make any western writer thirsty. Now when I look through my quarterly Roundup Magazine,https://westernwriters.org/roundup/ I recognize some of the people I’d chatted with, or smiled in passing, or shared a meal with, and wondered at them all. What a group. What a connection. That’s the power of a Convention.
