Western Literature Association

Creative Writing Award

Instituted in 2001, the Creative Writing Award celebrates the creative writers among our members.

You can submit poetry, short story, memoir, or other creative nonfiction. Please submit the piece that you are planning on reading at the conference (in other words, this is your conference paper).

The award comes with a small stipend.

To be eligible for the award, a piece cannot have been accepted for publication in any form by the submission deadline. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

— You must be a WLA member.

— You must include a statement that your submission has not been accepted for publication at this time.

—Remove all identifying lines (such as your name, email, affiliation, etc.) from the title, the header/footer, and the properties (under Word > File > Properties).

—Your entry should have a title.

— Please submit your entry in full length (no longer than 10 double-spaced pages) to info@westernlit.org with the subject heading “CREATIVE WRITING AWARD SUBMISSION” by July 25, 2026.

Judging Committee:

TBA

Recipients of the Creative Writing Award

  • 2025 Isaac Salazar, “El Árbol del Tule, or Variations on Creation”
  • 2024 Aristotle Johns, “[APPENDIX 23]”
  • 2023 Mel Anderson, “Salt”
  • 2022 Lawrence Coates, “A Great Man among His People”
  • 2021 Melody Graulich, “The Magpie”
  • 2020 Raul B. Moreno, “Sleepier Than Me”
  • 2019 Joshua Dolezal, “Darkness and Light”
  • 2018 Sydney Thompson, “Thataway”
  • 2017 Cheyenne Marco, “Water Signs”
  • 2016 Erin Flanagan, “The Rule of Threes”
  • 2015 Michael Branch, “Dark Cliffy Spot: Naming a Place, Placing a Name”
  • 2014 Lisa Knopp, “Groundwork”
  • 2013 No prize was awarded.
  • 2012 David Thacker, “The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness and Other Poems”
  • 2011 Doreen Pfost, “Trailing Consequences”
  • 2010 Liz Stephens, “Ten Years I’ll Never Get Back”
  • 2009 Denice Turner, “Shadow Legacy”
  • 2008 J. J. Clark, “As Is”
  • 2007 Joshua Dolezal, “Selway by Headlamp”
  • 2006 Russ Beck, “When I Believe in Faith”
  • 2004 Terre Ryan, “In the Name of the Bomb: Confessions of a Cold War Catholic Kid”
  • 2003 Laurie Clements Lambeth, “Fluid on the Brain”
  • 2002 Michael L. Johnson, “Southwestern Afllatus”
  • 2001 Lee Ann Roripaugh, “‘Mitten Springs’ and Other Poems Searching for Home: Japanese Americans in the American West”