Shelley Read's international bestselling debut novel, Go As A River, is translated into thirty-four languages and has been optioned for film by Mazur Kaplan Productions. Go As A River is the winner of the High Plains International Book Award for Fiction and the Reading the West Book Award for Best Debut, as well as a finalist for the Madame Figaro Du Grand Prix De L’Héroïne (France) and Storytel Award Best Novel (Sweden). A Sunday Times, American Booksellers Association, MPIBA, and Der Spiegel bestseller, Go As A River is also an Amazon Editor's Pick Best Debut, Goodreads Choice Award finalist, Colorado Public Radio Books We Love selection, Indigo Best Book of the Year (Canada), and a Richard & Judy Book Club pick (UK), among other national and international accolades. Go As A River has been highlighted in the New York Times Book Review, Sunday Times, Scientific American, Real Simple, Kirkus Reviews (starred review), Denver Post, London Independent, Alta Magazine, 5280, Zibby Mag, and many more publications around the world.

Shelley was an award-winning Senior Lecturer at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades where she taught writing, literature, environmental studies, and honors. She holds degrees in writing and literary studies from the University of Denver and Temple University's Graduate Program in Creative Writing and was a Dean’s Fellow in the University of Denver’s PhD program in English. She is a regular contributor to Crested Butte Magazine and Gunnison Valley Journal. Shelley is a mom, mountaineer, world traveler, and fifth-generation Coloradan who lives with her family in the Elk Mountains of Colorado’s Western Slope.

Official/brief bio for event introductions and media:

Shelley Read’s debut novel, Go as a River, is an international bestseller that has been translated into thirty-four languages and is in development for film with the Mazur Kaplan Company. Winner of the High Plains Book Award for Fiction and the Reading the West Book Award for Debut Fiction, Go as a River is also a Sunday Times bestseller, a Goodreads Choice Award finalist, an Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Debut Fiction, an Indie Next Pick, and a Colorado Public Radio Books We Love selection, among other national and international accolades.

 Shelley was an award-winning senior lecturer at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades, where she taught writing, literature, environmental studies, and honors. She is a mom, mountaineer, world traveler, and fifth-generation Coloradan who lives with her family in the Elk Mountains of Colorado’s Western Slope.