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Megan Kate Nelson

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Megan Kate Nelson
at the 2026 Gaithersburg Book Festival
Websitehttps://megankatenelson.com/

Megan Kate Nelson is an American author and historian who has focused on environmental history, military history, and the Western United States. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History for her book The Three-Cornered War.[1]

Education

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Megan Kate Nelson began her studies as an undergraduate at Harvard University, majoring in history and literature.[2] She went on to earn her PhD in American Studies at the University of Iowa.

Career

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Before becoming a full-time writer, she taught at Harvard University, Brown University, Cal State Fullerton, MIT, and Texas Tech University.[2]

Her writings have focused on the American West, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction era. In addition to her books, she also has published articles in the New York Times,[3] the Washington Post,[4][5] Slate,[6] Smithsonian Magazine,[7][8][9] Chronicle of Higher Education,[10] Preservation Magazine,[11] and Civil War Times.[12]

Selected works

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Books

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  • The Westerners: Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier (Scribner, 2026)[13]
  • Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America (Scribner, 2022)[14]
  • The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West (Scribner, 2020)[15]
  • Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War (University of Georgia Press, 2012)[16]
  • Trembling Earth: A Cultural History of the Okefenokee Swamp (University of Georgia Press, 2005)[17]

Awards and honors

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  • Pulitzer Prize Finalist in 2021 (The Three-Cornered War)[1]
  • Reading the West Book Award Longlist in 2021 (The Three-Cornered War)[18]
  • Spur Award for Best Historical Nonfiction Book in 2023 (Saving Yellowstone)[19]
  • Reading the West Book Award Longlist in 2023 (Saving Yellowstone)[20]

References

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  1. 1 2 Pulitzer Prize (2021). "Finalist: The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West, by Megan Kate Nelson (Scribner)". Pulitzer Prize Finalist (2021).
  2. 1 2 "Distinguished Lecture by Megan Kate Nelson". Harvard University Department of History. February 11, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  3. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (2020-02-13). "Opinion | Today's Republicans Are Like Lincoln in Only One Way". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  4. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (March 2, 2022). "Five Myths About Yellowstone". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  5. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (May 22, 2018). ""One of the 19th century's most important documents was recently discovered in a New England attic. Here's what it tells us."". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  6. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (2022-11-22). "Kevin Costner's Yellowstone Doc for Fox Has a Lot of Wrong Ideas About History". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  7. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (June 16, 2022). "What Extreme Flooding in Yellowstone Means for the National Park's Gateway Towns". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  8. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (March 1, 2022). "How Sitting Bull's Fight for Indigenous Land Rights Shaped the Creation of Yellowstone National Park". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  9. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (May 2018). "A Brief History of the Stoplight". The Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  10. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (August 12, 2014). ""The Conversation: Public Intellectuals? LOL."". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Forces of Nature: Adobe Forts of the Southwest | National Trust for Historic Preservation". savingplaces.org. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  12. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (2020-01-07). "The Campaign for a Continental Confederacy". HistoryNet. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  13. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate. The Westerners. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-6680-0434-0.
  14. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (2023-04-25). Saving Yellowstone. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-9821-4135-6.
  15. ↑ Nelson, Megan Kate (2021-02-16). The Three-Cornered War. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5011-5255-9.
  16. ↑ "Ruin Nation". Georgia Press. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  17. ↑ "Trembling Earth". Georgia Press. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  18. ↑ "Saving Yellowstone by Megan Kate Nelson". Reading the West. 2022-03-01. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  19. ↑ "Western Writers of America Announces 2023 Spur Award Winners and Finalists". WBOY.com. 2023-03-04. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  20. ↑ "33rd Annual Longlist". Reading the West. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
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