About Jane Little Botkin

National award–winning author Jane Little Botkin melds personal narratives of American families often with compelling stories of western women. Jane is a late bloomer as an author. After teaching for thirty years in 2008, she was honored by the Texas State Legislature by formal resolution for her work with local history and education. Soon after she served on the Western Writers of America board and later as its vice president. Jane continues to judge entries for the WWA's prestigious Spur Award; reviews new book releases; authors articles for various magazines; and speaks to groups in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.

Her first two works won numerous awards in historical biography and women’s studies, including two Spur Awards, two Caroline Bancroft History Prizes, the Texas Book Award, and the Barbara Sudler Award for the best book written on the West by a woman. Jane was also a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award, High Plains Book Award, Women Writing the West’s Willa Literary Award, Independent Book Award, Foreword Indies Book Award, and Sarton Book Award. Released in fall 2024, Jane’s third book—what she calls her Covid book—is The Pink Dress, A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen, a current finalist for the Foreword Indies Book Award in pop culture. The narrative brings far West Texas to life during the 1970s’ American Counterculture era.

Today Jane blissfully escapes into her literary world in the remote White Mountain Wilderness near Nogal, New Mexico, where she is currently working on The Breath of a Buffalo, A Biography of Mary Ann Goodnight, due to be released from the University of Oklahoma Press in Fall 2026.