Ivan Doig

The grandson of homesteaders and the son of a ranch hand and a ranch cook, Ivan Doig was born in Montana in 1939. He grew up along the Rocky Mountain Front that has inspired much of his writing, making it into his own equivalent of Faulkner’s “Western Yoknapatawpha,” according to reviewers. His first book, the highly acclaimed memoir This House of Sky (1978), was a finalist for the National Book Award, and his eight books since then have received numerous prizes.


A former ranch hand and newspaperman, Doig is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he received a B.S. and an M.S. in journalism. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington and honorary doctorates in literature from Montana State University and Lewis and Clark College. In the century’s-end San Francisco Chronicle polls to name the best Western novels and works of fiction, Doig is the only living writer with books in the top dozen on both lists: English Creek for fiction and This House of Sky for nonfiction. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Carol, who has taught the literature of the American West.

Last updated: July 30, 2021

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Mailing Address:

8523 West State Highway 4
Beatrice, NE 68310

Phone:

402 223-3514

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