William Haywood Henderson was born in Syracuse, New York, but quickly migrated west. He grew up mostly in Colorado, headed farther west for college, and earned a BA in English from the University of California at Berkeley. He held a variety of jobs, including chef, copyeditor, technical writer, landscape gardener, and caretaker on a ranch in Wyoming, before heading back east to take a degree in creative writing at Brown University. He attended Stanford University from 1989 to 1991 as a Wallace Stegner Fellow in Creative Writing, and he used the time to finish his first novel (Native) and start his second novel (The Rest of the Earth). He has taught creative writing at Brown, Harvard, and the University of Colorado at Denver. He returned to Colorado in 1999—he missed the sagebrush, the mountains, and the sky. Since 2002 he has taught novel writing at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. His third novel, Augusta Locke, was released by Viking in April 2006 and is now available in paperback from Penguin.
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William Haywood Henderson was born in Syracuse, New York, but quickly migrated west. He grew up mostly in Colorado, headed farther west for college, and earned a BA in English from the University of California at Berkeley. He held a variety of jobs, including chef, copyeditor, technical writer, landscape gardener, and caretaker on a ranch in Wyoming, before heading back east to take a degree in creative writing at Brown University. He attended Stanford University from 1989 to 1991 as a Wallace S... (read more)

Check out Henderson's latest novel:

Augusta Locke
(Penguin; ISBN-10: 014303829X)

Finalist for the
♦ Spur Award (Western Writers of America) ♦
♦ Mountains & Plains Booksellers’ Regional Book Award ♦
♦ Willa Award (Women Writing the West) ♦

A Best Book of 2006—Rocky Mountain News

Best New Literary Novel 2007—Westword

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Augusta Locke tells the story of one woman’s troubled yet spirited life as she raises her daughter in the deserts and lonely ranges of Wyoming. Spanning the twentieth century, Augusta’s extraordinary challenges play out themes of love and loss, home and family, redemption and reconciliation. Redolent of myth, humor, strange landscapes, and stark reality, Augusta Locke presents an indelible portrait of a woman who through great toughness of character blazes her own trail.
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“Augusta Locke is an uncommonly beautiful, haunting book. …Henderson has managed to create one of the most arresting female literary characters in quite some time.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

“William Haywood Henderson understands the emotional landscape of the American West, defined by loss, hope, and life on the wing. And, like the birds that sweep through Augusta Locke’s world, Henderson’s writing soars.”—Diane Smith, author of Letters From Yellowstone

“William Haywood Henderson’s Augusta Locke is such a gravely beautiful read that you have to stop every few pages to catch your breath.”—Chicago Tribune

“Henderson’s novel is an extraordinarily beautiful creation… Told in languorous prose virtually encrusted with the details of nature—very reminiscent of Annie Dillard—this story follows Gussie Locke through a lifetime of wandering. … Read slowly, and enjoy this raw and haunting tale.”—Booklist, starred review

“[Augusta Locke] resonates with poetic beauty and complexity. … Henderson creates a world that is both epic and universal and, perhaps above all, eminently readable.”—Rocky Mountain News

“Haunting …” —Library Journal

(read less)

Check out Henderson's latest novel:

Augusta Locke
(Penguin; ISBN-10: 014303829X)

Finalist for the
♦ Spur Award (Western Writers of America) ♦
♦ Mountains & Plains Booksellers’ Regional Book Award ♦
♦ Willa Award (Women Writing the West) ♦

A Best Book of 2006—Rocky Mountain News

Best New Literary Novel 2007—Westword


Augusta Locke tells the story of one woman’s troubled yet spirited life as she raises her daughter in the deserts and lonely ra... (read more)