Booksellers and readers around the country are preparing to celebrate McMurtry’s life and work with the Summer of Lonesome Dove.
The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA) has selected acclaimed author Larry McMurtry as the recipient of the 2020 Spirit of the West Literary Achievement Award. Visit readingthewest.com to read Larry McMurtry's letter of thanks for this honor.
Presented occasionally by independent booksellers in the MPIBA region, the Spirit of the West Literary Achievement Award celebrates an author whose body of work captures the unique spirit of the American West. Previous Spirit of the West honorees include Kent Haruf, Linda Hogan, Sandra Cisneros, Jim Harrison, Terry Tempest Williams, and many other acclaimed writers as a part of the Reading the West Book Awards, founded in 1990.
Booksellers and readers around the country are preparing to celebrate McMurtry’s life and work with the Summer of Lonesome Dove. Independent bookstores throughout the MPIBA region are planning book clubs, displays, and social media promotions to encourage book lovers to read (or re-read) McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize winning novel on the thirty-fifth anniversary of its publication. The Summer of Lonesome Dove celebration is sponsored by McMurtry's long-time publisher, Simon & Schuster.
Sponsored and promoted by more than 160 independent booksellers across many western and mid-western states, the Reading the West Book Awards honor the best fiction, non-fiction, and illustrated books for adults and children set in one of the member states, or created by an author or artist living or working in the region. The awards, given to books published in the previous calendar year, celebrate the spirit of the west and the rich variety of writing in and about this region, and reflect the extraordinary diversity of the reading public.
The remaining thirtieth annual Reading the West Book Award winners, in eight categories, will be announced on Wednesday, May 20. Booksellers in the MPIBA region curated shortlists in each category from over 150 nominations. Voting for the winners continues through Sunday, May 17, at readingthewest.com.
The mission of the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association is to support and promote independent booksellers in their region, raise awareness of the value of locally owned businesses in our communities, and celebrate literary culture and an open exchange of ideas as crucial to a free society.
MPIBA is a non-profit professional association of bookstores, booksellers, authors, and industry professionals. The association began over fifty years ago in Denver, Colorado, and has grown to represent booksellers in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
