The Stories That Shape Us: Contemporary Women Write About the West

Publisher Marketing: Over the past decade a rich chorus of women's voices has emerged from the West. The Stories That Shape Us is an extraordinary anthology of twenty-six personal essays by contemporary women writers, many being published here for the first time. Ranging widely across the cultures and the regions of the West, these women relate stories of family and community, of race and gender, of commitment and displacement, of grief and repair, of spirituality and connection to the earth. Against the story of the Winning of the West, of men in (and against) the natural world, these writers propose a revised narrative, one more appropriate to a world facing stark limits and ecological disaster. Their stories are not new, but until recently we have been unable to hear them. The voices in The Stories That Shape Us have been shaped by their particular regions and cultures, but they speak to the nation, and they demand attention because they tell us what we need in order to survive. The contributors to The Stories That Shape Us are as diverse as the regions they speak from. Some of them are well-established, even best-selling authors; others are new voices soon to be heard on the national scene. All are united by their passion to tell the truth about their land and their lives - to tell the stories that have shaped them and that can help shape us all. Publisher Marketing: For sheer richness and diversity of voice, The Stories That Shape Us is unbeatable. This book gives the widest possible perspective on what it means to grow up female in the West. Susan Lyman-Whitney, Deseret News Contributor Bio:  Jordan, Theresa Theresa J. Jordan, MA, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Applied Psychology School of Education New York University New York, New York Medical Informatics Specialist Department of Medicine and National Tuberculosis Center New Jersey Medical School University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Newark, New JerseyContributor Bio:  Jordan, Teresa Jordan is the recipient of the Western Heritage Award from the Cowboy Hall of Fame for scriptwriting and literary fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. Contributor Bio:  Norris, Kathleen Kathleen Norris is the author of two books of poetry, Falling Off (1971) and The Middle of the World (1981) and has received awards from the Guggenheim and Bush foundations. She lives in Lemmon, South Dakota, with her husband. Contributor Bio:  Limerick, Patricia Nelson Patricia Nelson Limerick is a professor of history and chair of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Contributor Bio:  Freeman, Judith Judith Freeman, the author of Red Water, A Desert of Pure Feeling, and Set for Life, lives with her husband in Los Angeles and Idaho.