4
W
ELCOME TO THE SUMMER issue of Saddlebag Dispatches. We’re excited to announce that the Western Fictioneers’ Peacemaker Award for Best Short Fiction of 2020 was awarded to Rod Miller for his story, “Black Joe,” which appeared in our Summer, 2020 issue. Congratulations, Rod! Congratulations, too, to John T. Biggs, whose story, “The Last Photograph,” was a finalist for Best Short Fiction and appeared in the same issue. Saddlebag Dispatches is honored to have such fine writers appear in our pages.
As usual, we’ve been busy putting together another great issue for our readers. This time around, we have stories by two former winners of the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award, several Peacemaker and Spur finalists, and many more great stories.
In addition, we’re announcing the winners of the Inaugural Saddlebag Dispatches Mustang Award for Western Flash Fiction. This is the only contest for western writing which uses blind judging, and we think the results speak for themselves. So without further ado, let me congratulate our winner, Andrew Salmon, for his story “High Stakes.” In addition to Andrew’s winning entry, all eight stories which were short-listed by the judges are included in this issue.
Speaking of great contests, Saddlebag Dispatches also sponsors the Dusty Richards Memorial Oxbow Award at the Ozark Creative Writers Conference which takes place in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, every October. This contest is for western short stories up to 3,000 words. The winner will receive a
