The Story Catcher Writing Workshop takes its inspiration from our own Mari Sandoz (1896-1966), who built an impressive career as an author but also went to great lengths to encourage other writers. The workshop and festival itself takes its name from The Story Catcher, Sandoz’s last published novel, and winner of the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award in 1963 and the Western Writers of America Spur Award for best juvenile fiction in 1964. Set in the same high plains region of our workshop, the novella follows the trials and tribulations of Lance, a young Oglala Sioux searching for his place within a mid-nineteenth century tribal society facing white encroachment and continued conflict with neighboring tribes. Turning his back on the honors he might gain as a warrior, Lance trades his weapons for the charcoal and color sticks and animal skins that he uses to capture the daily life, hunts, battles, rituals and visions of his tribe, eventually winning honor and a new name: “Story Catcher,” recorder of the history of his people.