At its 30th anniversary conference held in Denver recently, Women Writing the West announced the selection of Marcia Hensley’s memoir as a finalist in the Creative Non-fiction category of their annual Willa Award contest for recent publications. 

The memoir tells the story of a woman, raised a city girl in Oklahoma, who follows her dream of finding freedom in the West. In the rugged high desert and mountains of Wyoming, she creates a new identity, shaped by the two loves of her life: the beautiful history-laden land and the charismatic man who knows it intimately.

One judge praised the book as a “compelling blend of personal anecdotes, emotional reflection and vivid historical descriptions of the land and people of Wyoming.” Another judge said: “Hensley takes readers on an intimate journey through her life as a divorced mother navigating the complexities of relationships while moving to the unique landscape of Wyoming.”

Hensley now resides in Laramie, but the setting of her memoir is the western part of the state where she and her husband, Mike, taught at Western Wyoming Community College and lived in the small ranching community of Eden Valley near the Wind River Mountains for 30 years.

In her first book, “Staking Her Claim: Women Homesteading the West” (a 2009 Willa finalist), Hensley introduced readers to stories of pioneering women who came west on their own. In “Away from It All,” she tells her own story.

The book is available in some local bookstores or can be ordered online, including at amazon.com.