I will never be able to say what is in my heart because words fail us, because it is in our nature to protect, because there are times when what is public and what is private must be discerned.

She also received the DistinguiTerry Tempest Williamsd Achievement Award from the Western American Literature Association and the Wallace Stegner Award given by The Center for the American West. and Melissa A. In 2006 Williams received the Robert Marshall Award from The Wilderness Society their highest honor given to an American citizen.

Williams’ writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah and its Mormon culture. She is the recipient of a Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in creative nonfiction. For other people of the same name see Terry Williams.