Pam Houston

Pam Houston is Professor of English at the University of California, Davis and teaches in the Low Residency MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She is an acclaimed author with multiple published works and co-founder of the literary nonprofit Writing By Writers, which hosts writing workshops globally in locations from Boulder, Colorado to Chamonix, France.

Her research and creative interests focus on creative writing, particularly memoir, environmental literature, and personal narrative. Houston's work explores the relationship between humans and the natural world, wilderness writing, feminist perspectives, and human-animal relationships. Her writing often draws from her personal experiences living on a homestead at 9,000 feet near the headwaters of the Rio Grande in Colorado.

Her recent publications demonstrate a progression from early works exploring romantic relationships and Western culture toward more contemporary works addressing environmental concerns, reproductive rights, and social justice. Houston has received numerous awards including the Western States Book Award, the WILLA Award for contemporary fiction, and the Evil Companions Literary Award.

• Western States Book Award
• WILLA Award for contemporary fiction
• Evil Companions Literary Award
• Several teaching awards

Houston actively mentors emerging writers through her nonprofit organization Writing By Writers, which offers between seven and ten writers gatherings annually. Her teaching focuses particularly on writing about the 'more than human world' and she has developed specialized workshops including writing and riding adventures in Wyoming and co-creating with Mother Earth in the San Juan Islands. While specific grant information isn't provided in the text, her ongoing workshop series and academic appointments indicate sustained professional activity and support for her work.

She maintains a homestead in Colorado with her husband Mike, where she practices what she teaches about the relationship between humans and the natural environment, sharing her property with various animals including Icelandic horses, Irish Wolfhounds, and livestock.