Western writers honour Elmore Leonard
Alison Flood writing in guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 February 2009

Elmore Leonard is to be honoured by the Western Writers of America for his lifetime contribution to the genre.

President of the organisation Johnny D Boggs said that Leonard, who honed his craft with westerns including Three-Ten to Yuma and Hombre before he turned to the crime writing he is better known for today, was "long overdue" for such recognition. "Elmore Leonard has had a tremendous impact on the western and crime genres," he said. "He has always been a gifted storyteller, and never afraid to take chances. That's why his westerns remain in print decades after they were first published, and why anthologies of his short western fiction fill bookshelves."

Leonard, who will receive the Owen Wister award for lifetime contribution to western literature - a bronze buffalo - on 20 June at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma, said he was surprised but delighted to win. "I love the western genre," he said, "and writing them was a great way to learn to write."

Read Alison Flood's full piece at The Guardian online.