Mari Sandoz Emerging Writer Scholarship

The Mari Sandoz Emerging Writer Scholarship has been established by the Mari Sandoz Society to provide scholarship assistance to Western Colorado University students.

Mari Sandoz (1896-1966) is known as one of the West’s foremost authors, writing extensively about pioneer life and Plains Indians. Shew as an award-winning novelist and biographer and one of the earliest writers of creative non-fiction including her monumental biography, Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas, a book that stood for decades as the seminal authority on the great Lakota leader. Sandoz’ writing emphasized the environmental and human landscape of the West, and was recognized for her no-nonsense yet deeply evocative style. She was passionate about sharing her hard-earned and well-honed writing skills and from 1947 to 1956 Sandoz was in charge of teaching Advanced Novel Writing for the prestigious Writers’ Institute Summer Session at the University of Wisconsin.

To ensure the legacy of Mari Sandoz’s passion for writing and love of the landscapes and peoples of the West, and to support significant wiring about it in the contemporary literary landscape, one scholarship will be granted in her name per academic year to a student in the Graduate Program in Creative Writing with a concentration on Nature Writing.

Applicants who are accepted to the Nature Writing program will be considered.

Applicants for the scholarship must:
- Be in their first year of the Masters of Fine Arts, Graduate Program in Creative Writing with a concentration on Nature Writing
- Be a student whose writing record, academic success, and extracurricular work stands out.

As part of this award, the recipient is expected to:
- Independently explore the life and writing of Mari Sandoz to be able to share her important legacy whenever appropriate.
- Acknowledge the Mari Sandoz Society in their thesis and any forthcoming publication.
- Volunteer 10 hours total in support of a goal outlined by the NW Director in collaboration with the Mari Sandoz Society