CRAIG LANCASTER | Media - CRAIG LANCASTER | NOVELIST. PLAYWRIGHT. EDITOR.

MEDIA ROOM

Craig's appearance on Open Mic

From Craig: Rich Ehisen is a thoughtful, generous interviewer of writers. I was thrilled when he asked me to be on his podcast, Open Mic, a second time. We talked at length about Northward Dreams, lives in the American West, and women who get things done (a portion of the show that featured my gushing about my mother). I hope you enjoy it!

Interview with Chérie Newman

From Craig: Chérie, the former host of The Write Question on Montana Public Radio, is probably the best interviewer I've ever encountered: direct, incisive, prepared. It was an honor to field questions from her again.

Check out the conversation here.

Interview with Stillwater County News

Craig had a nice chat with Stillwater County (Mont.) News editor Charlie Denison in advance of his April 6, 2024, visit to the Stillwater County Library in Columbus. Check it out here.

Check out some of Craig's favorite books

Shepherd, a really cool site for book recommendations, invited Craig to build a themed list of five of his favorite books. He chose five exemplary works with characters in the contemporary American West.

Read about his picks here.

Billings Gazette on Yellowstone Rep's fifth season

Many thanks to The Billings Gazette for covering the announcement of Yellowstone Repertory Theatre's fifth season, which kicks off in October and November with Craig's first full-length play, Straight On To Stardust.

Read the story here.

Much more on the play can be found here.

Craig's appearance on the LITerally podcast

From Craig: One of the best things about the High Plains Book Award weekend was meeting and becoming friends with Kase Johnstun, a fellow finalist in the fiction category. Recently, I joined Kase and Brandon Long for an episode of the LITerally podcast. The hour breezed by. I'd be honored if you checked it out and supported Kase's literary work. He's terrific.

And It Will Be a Beautiful Life wins the 2022 High Plains Book Award for fiction

The 2022 High Plains Book Awards, recognizing works of literary merit from across the high plains of the United States and western Canada, were handed out on Oct. 8 in Billings, Montana. Craig's novel And It Will Be a Beautiful Life, released in 2021 by The Story Plant, was the winner in the fiction category.

In all, books were recognized in 12 categories, spanning nearly 300 submitted works. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!

This is Craig's second High Plains Book Award. His 600 Hours of Edward was the winner in the Best First Book category in 2010.

And It Will Be a Beautiful Life wins an American Fiction Award

September 7, 2022: And It Will Be a Beautiful Life, Craig's ninth novel, is the literary fiction winner in the 2022 American Fiction Awards.

You can read the news release here.

And It Will Be a Beautiful Life was released in June 2021 by The Story Plant/Fiction Studio Books. It has been a literary fiction finalist in the Best Book Awards and the International Book Awards, and it's also a fiction finalist in the High Plains Book Awards. The latter awards will be announced in early October.

The Montana Standard published a generous story about Craig's recent visit to Isle of Books & Books in Butte, Montana.

And It Will Be a Beautiful Life is a 2022 High Plains Book Award fiction finalist

June 20, 2022: Craig's novel And It Will Be a Beautiful Life has been selected as a fiction finalist in the 2022 High Plains Book Awards. It's the fourth of Craig's books to be honored as a finalist by the HPBA, joining 600 Hours of Edward (the 2010 winner for Best First Book), The Art of Departure, and This Is What I Want.

You can see the list of finalists in all categories here.

The first High Plains Book Awards were handed out in 2007. They were established by the Billings Public Library Board to recognize regional literary works that examine and reflect life on the High Plains, including the state of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas, as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The library remains a sustaining sponsor, but the awards are now administered by a separate nonprofit entity.

Past winners of the awards are a who's-who of regional literary excellence, including Maxim Loskutoff, Joe Wilkins, David Quammen, Susan Henderson, Chris La Tray, Thomas McGuane, John Clayton, Danell Jones, Rick Bass, Lowell Jaeger, Christine Carbo, Bryce Andrews, Carrie La Seur, Sheryl Noethe, Doug Peacock, Aaron Parrett, Alan Kesselheim, Thomas Lee, Jim Harrison, Shann Ray, Jenny Shank, and Tim Lehman (among many others).

And It Will Be a Beautiful Life is an International Book Awards finalist

June 3, 2022: The contest results from the 2022 International Book Awards have been released, and Craig's latest novel, And It Will Be a Beautiful Life, was honored as a finalist in the literary fiction category. You can see the list of honorees here.

The International Book Awards are a large-scale contest taking in a range of categories for fiction and nonfiction. Winners and finalists include books from across the publishing spectrum, including those from major houses, small presses, and independent authors. This is the third of Craig's books to be an International Book Awards finalist, joining Edward Unspooled (2017) and You, Me, & Mr. Blue Sky,
co-written with Elisa Lorello (2019).

Straight on to Stardust table reading

A table reading of Craig's full-length play, Straight on to Stardust, was held April 23, 2022, at This House of Books in downtown Billings, Montana. The ensemble from Yellowstone Repertory Theatre took on the story of a man (Clinton Cobb) driving into the storm of the century as he carries the body of his father, Jimmy, to burial. You can download the program here.

Want to see the table read? Go here!

Craig's review of Saving Yellowstone

Craig reviewed Saving Yellowstone, the new book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Megan Kate Nelson, for the Los Angeles Review of Books: "(Nelson's) great gift as a historian and as a writer is finding the connected threads of the sprawling story of the place we call the United States." Read the review here.

And It Will Be a Beautiful Life book trailers

Families and Fiction: Conversation with Jamie Harrison | Montana Book Festival

'Snapping the Slump' panel discussion | Montana Book Festival

In conversation with Allen Morris Jones | Hosted by Country Bookshelf

Open Mic conversation with Rich Ehisen

LISTEN TO CRAIG'S CHAT WITH 'BIG J'

**Launch-day chat with author Louise Beech (This Is How We Are Human)**

Don't be frightened by the fuzzy face above! The video is a delightful chat between Craig and novelist Louise Beech (whose latest is the beautiful This Is How We Are Human).