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The Montana Book Award is an annual award that recognizes literary and/or artistic excellence in a book published during the award year. Eligible titles are either set in Montana, deal with Montana themes/issues, or are written, edited or illustrated by a Montana author or artist. Books for all ages are considered for the award.

Nominations for the 2024 Montana Book Award are now being accepted. Learn more.

2023 Winner

The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling

The 2023 Montana Book Award winner is The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling, published by Milkweed Editions.

In The Lost Journals of Sacajewea, Author Debra Magpie Earling challenges prevailing historical narratives of Sacajewea. She brings to life a mythologized figure, while casting an unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and re-centering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history. Written in lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea is an astonishing work of art and a powerful tale of perseverance—the Indigenous woman’s story that hasn’t been told.