Far West

Ron Tanner's FAR WEST won Elixir Press 2020 Fiction Award. Contest judge, Christy Stillwell, has this to say: "Many of the stories investigate the American West, examining themes like independence, freedom, and space with a lens of honesty and grit. Ultimately Tanner's stories are a delight because he is a masterful writer. Full of sharp dialogue that either advances the plot or sharpens the characters, or both, the stories are a terrific combination of poignant, absurd and profound. They present landscapes that are more complex than they appear. Tanner's work promotes an intolerance for cliche and over simplicity and as such, his stories are unforgettable."

Fiction. Short Stories.

Ron Tanner's writing has been named "notable" in both Best American Essays and Best American Short Stories. His awards for fiction include the G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize, the Jack Dyer Prize, the Charles Angoff Prize, the Faulkner Society gold medal, Pushcart Prize, New Letters Award, and many others, as well as fellowships from the Michener/Copernicus Society, Sewanee Writers Conference, and the National Park Service, to name a few. His novel Missile Paradise was named a "notable book of 2017" by the American Library Association. He lives on an historic farm in Maryland and directs the Good Contrivance Farm Writer's Retreat, an educational nonprofit.