Storytelling awakens us to that which is real. Honest. . . . it transcends the individual. . . . Those things that are most personal are most general, and are, in turn, most trusted. Stories bind. . . . They are basic to who we are. A story composite personality which grows out of its community. It maintains a stability within that community, providing common knowledge as to how things are, how things should be -- knowledge based on experience. These stories become the conscience of the group. They belong to everyone.

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.