Spokane Valley’s C.K. Crigger wins Western Writers of America Spur Award

When C.K. Crigger thinks of Western writing, her mind doesn’t immediately go to cowboys and figures like Wyatt Earp and Jesse James.

Instead, she focuses on what she calls the little people, the bankers and shopkeepers, farmers and miners, railroad men and loggers.

Her latest novel, “The Woman Who Built a Bridge,” features two such characters, a reclusive bridge builder named January Schutt and a farmer named Shay Billings.

But there’s also the power-hungry landowner Marvin Hammel, who is trying to take control of the ranchers’ homes, livelihoods and the water that flows through the land.

“The Woman Who Built a Bridge” captivated judges of the Western Writers of America Spur Awards, and Crigger was awarded the top prize in the Western Romance category.

Crigger, who lives in Spokane Valley, has been named a finalist in the past (“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride,” she said with a laugh) but this is her first Spur win.

“It’s like winning the Oscar for a Western writer,” she said.

Crigger has been writing for practically as long as she can remember, and she’s been published for nearly 20 years.

It took Crigger about six months to write “The Woman Who Built a Bridge,” which was published in October through Wolfpack Publishing. She currently has three other novels in the works.

She will travel to the annual Western Writers of America convention in Tucson in June to receive her award.

Crigger feels like the Inland Northwest is underrepresented in Western literature and is happy to bring stories of the region to life.

“I’ve lived here all my life,” she said. “Born and raised right around here. It’s my part of the world … I consider that (the little people) came here not to conquer but to build a life, and that’s why I’m a Western writer.”