Let the Wild Grasses Grow

2022 Great Group Reads Award Winner, High Plains Book Award Finalist, and Reading The West Longlist Nomination

"Johnstun knows his terrain well, creating a palpable sense of the sky and soil, grasses and wildlife of the mesa--and the winds of change that swept through the nation for two tumultuous decades. A tender evocation of grief, hope, and dignity."

--KIRKUS REVIEWS

Let the Wild Grasses Grow chronicles the lives of Della Chavez and John Cordova, childhood friends separated by a tragic accident, who find each other again during World War II after leading lives of struggle through the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and, for John, abuse at the hands of his grandfather. This sweeping American love story celebrates the power of home landscapes, family heritage, and first love.


About the Author
KASE JOHNSTUN lives and writes in Ogden, Utah. Author of Beyond the Grip of Craniosynostosis and coeditor of Utah Reflections: Stories from the Wasatch Front, he teaches at the Creative Nonfiction Foundation, the Graduate School in Creative Writing for Southern New Hampshire University, Barton Community College, and Weber State University. His essay collection Tortillas for Honkies was a finalist for the Autumn House Press Nonfiction Award, and his work has been published in Label Me Latino/a, Creative Nonfiction, The Watershed Review, and elsewhere. He holds an MA in Creative Writing and Literature from Kansas State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University. You can find him running on the trails of the Rocky Mountains along the face of the Wasatch Front.