Pam Houston

Pam Houston is a Professor of English at the University of California, Davis, and teaches creative writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She holds a B.A. from Denison University (1983) and an M.A. from the University of Utah (1992). Her work focuses on creative writing across fiction/nonfiction/playwriting, modernist traditions, environmental literature, and feminist narratives. Houston resides on a 120-acre homestead in Colorado's Rio Grande headwaters, actively advocating for environmental conservation through her writing and nonprofit work.

• Publications: Deep Creek, Air Mail (coauthored), Cowboys Are My Weakness, and others with W.W. Norton
• Awards: 2019 Colorado Book Award, High Plains Book Award
• Roles: Co-founder/director of Writing by Writers, fiction editor at Terrain.org

Her environmental advocacy intersects with literary activism, reflected in works addressing land preservation and climate change. Houston's writing often blends personal memoir with broader cultural critiques, as seen in her pandemic-era collaborative Air Mail and wilderness-focused Deep Creek.