Writer Blaire Briody has won the 2014 Richard J. Margolis Award, an honor bestowed on a promising nonfiction writer “whose work combines warmth, humor, wisdom, and concern with social justice.”
As a freelance journalist, Briody has written for The New York Times, Popular Science and Fast Company.Her first book The New Wild West will tell the story of how a quiet town in North Dakota was transformed by an oil boom. The book is due out from Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press in 2016.
“I enjoy exploring broader social issues through the stories of individuals and immersing myself in their environment,” Briody stated. “With The New Wild West, I hope to give a voice to the people living in North Dakota’s oil boom region and provide the reader with a deep understanding of what fracking, oil and our relationship to the land means for all of us. The Richard J. Margolis Award will be paramount in helping me complete my book, and I’m incredibly humbled and grateful to receive such a prestigious honor.”