Writer Rebecca Lawton wins Waterston Desert Writing Prize

Sonoma writer, instructor and natural scientist Rebecca Lawton has been named the recipient of the 2015 Waterston Desert Writing Prize.

Lawton’s work, “The Oasis This Time,” was chosen based on it’s “quality of writing and meaningful contribution to the body of desert literature,” according to judges. The work examines the role of California palm oases and how they assist in monitoring the effects of the decline of groundwater in western deserts.

Lawton has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship, the Ellen Meloy Fund Award for Desert Writers, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. She led whitewater treks in the Grand Canyon for ten seasons, wrote the bestselling essay collection, Reading Water: Lessons from the River, and serves as a consultant on watershed research.

The prize was founded by actor Sam Waterston to celebrate the “creative and literary nonfiction that illustrates artistic excellence, sensitivity to place, and desert literacy, as well as to position the desert not only as setting, but also as subject.” The prize is inspired by the work of Oregon poet Ellen Waterston, who has been writing about the high desert for over 30 years.

Lawton will read her work and receive her award at a reception in June at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon. She also receives a $1,000 cash award and a 4-week fellowship at PLAYA in Summer Lake, Oregon.