Two accomplished new novels by Joe Wilkins and Willy Vlautin feature weathered protagonists called back from the brink.
Jenny Shank
Posted inArticles
During climate chaos, a witness and champion of the West
A Q&A with author and educator Laura Pritchett.
Posted inArticles
Invisible Denver made indelible in a new documentary
‘The Holly’ connects the dots between the Mile High City’s history of gang violence, real estate development, law enforcement practices and one complicated man.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
The incarcerated women battling wildfires
In ‘Breathing Fire,’ Jaime Lowe uncovers the benefits and drawbacks of California’s inmate fire program.
Posted inArticles
Go on a literary road trip through the Golden State
From California dreaming to California realities, here are five books to escape with when you’re stuck at home.
Posted inNovember 11, 2019: Storied Landscapes
Friendship and disappearance in the desert
A debut novel highlights the strength of women, even as they face trouble.
Posted inArticles
From the Bundys to cheap burgundy: How myths shape the West
Novelist Frank Bergon meanders through a changing West and traces old stories refreshed.
Posted inAugust 5, 2019: From Prison to Fireline
Grounding and grandmothers in a gentrifying Denver
Denver author Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s rich debut story collection centers young female protagonists.
Posted inDecember 10, 2018: Critical Mass
Looking for love in all the wrong places
A quest for connection unites a new collection of Western stories.
Posted inNovember 12, 2018: Old Wests, and new
A voice for the overlooked
Writer Jonathan Evison flips the American Dream narrative upside-down.
Posted inAugust 6, 2018: What Are We Doing Here?
The Second Coming of Christ in southern Idaho
A new memoir reflects on an isolated, religious upbringing in a survivalist Mormon family.
Posted inFebruary 5, 2018: Caught Between Crises
Saints and sinners in the Southwest
A new book explores the dark characters that make the wide-open West their home.
Posted inDecember 25, 2017: Bear Essentials
On grappling with a past shadowed by violence
Two books examine the relationship people have with painful family histories.
Posted inNovember 13, 2017: Solace and Perspective
Exploring rural California’s contradictions
Gabriel Tallent’s debut novel tells the story of a tough teenage girl’s survival.
Posted inAugust 21, 2017: Rooftop Revolution
What a doctor learns after a life’s work
A pediatrician reflects on his work in Navajo Nation.
Posted inMay 1, 2017: Change Comes to Short Creek
Love, loss and nuclear reactors
Two new books explore the perspectives of women during the West’s nuclear boom.
Posted inJanuary 23, 2017: For Which it Stands
The heartache of Montana’s solitude
Two new fiction works from Big Sky Country crave human connectivity.
Posted inNovember 14, 2016: The Long View
Native American literature’s shapeshifter
Novelist Stephen Graham Jones on how he transcends stereotypes.
Posted inNovember 14, 2016: The Long View
The promise of Alaska’s wilderness
Two novels offer perspectives on the allure of the last frontier.
Posted inDecember 21, 2015: Secrets of the Deep
The Corps of Discovery, after the apocalypse
Review of Benjamin Percy’s “The Dead Lands.”