Bestselling Author Anne Hillerman to Visit Northwest College on September 29th for the Annual Wasden Reading
Written by Caleb Nelson on September 6, 2022
The bestselling author Anne Hillerman will visit Northwest College on Thursday, September 29th, to deliver the 2022 Wasden Reading. The popular literary series returns this year after a “two-year absence” due the pandemic, but the event has otherwise been held annually since 2008. The free event gets underway at 7 p.m. in the Yellowstone Building Conference Center and is open to the public.
Hillerman is best known for her Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito detective novels, a continuation of the series started by her father, Tony, in the 1970s. Her work follows Navajo Tribal Police offers Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and later, Bernadette Manuelito in their “crime-solving adventures.” Anne’s first novel, Spider Woman’s Daughter, was published in 2013, and the seventh and most recent, The Sacred Bridge, was released last April. It immediately earned a spot on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the fifth such honor in her career.
A longtime resident of New Mexico, Anne’s list of awards includes the 2021 New Mexico Book of the Year Award, and the 2019 Frank Waters Award for Literary Excellence. She also garnered the 2014 Spur Award for Best First Novel from the Western Writers of America for Spider Woman’s Daughter.
Anne has also been an award-winning art, education, and New Mexico legislative reporter, as well as a page editor and restaurant critic for two newspapers. She initiated and organized the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference, helped created the Tony Hillerman Prize for the best first mystery novel, and is a frequent keynote speaker and writing workshop presenter.
Anne’s books will be available for purchase and signing after the reading.
The Wasden Readings are named in honor of the late NWC professor Winifred S. Wasden and were first held in October 2008. An icon of the NWC English Department, Wasden served as an instructor at the college for nearly 37 years before retiring in 2001. Among her many contributions, she introduced courses in women’s studies, folklore, and the Bible as literature. Wasden passed away in February 2007.
