Judy Blunt

State: Montana

Judy Blunt (born October 10, 1954) is an American memoirist, essayist, poet, and retired creative-writing professor. She spent her early life on her family’s cattle and wheat ranch in remote Phillips County, eastern Montana—hundreds of miles from the nearest town. In 1986, she left the ranch, relocated to Missoula with her three children, and enrolled at the University of Montana, earning her MFA in 1994. Her debut memoir, Breaking Clean (2002), is a powerful, evocative work that recounts her experiences growing up and raising a family in an isolated, male-dominated ranching culture. The book earned multiple honors, including a PEN/Jerard award in 1997, a Whiting Writers’ Award in 2001, the PEN/Jerard Fund Award, the Willa Award, the Mountains and Plains Book Award, and the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2006. Her essays and poetry have appeared in numerous journals, and she later taught creative writing at the University of Montana.

Genres: Contemporary, Memoir, Nonfiction, Poetry

Audiences: Adult, All Ages