Albion native wins writing awards for articles in Western Horseman

Staff Reports Posted 2 October 2018 at 10:54 am

Provided photo: Albion native Katie Navarra recently won two writing awards for article in a magazine about the horse industry and lifestyle.

MECHANICVILLE – Equestrian journalist Kathryn “Katie” Navarra and her award-winning portrayals of East Coast families choosing American Western lifestyles are rewriting expectations about regions, riders and rodeos.

Two articles published in Western Horseman magazine, “Green Mountain Grown,” published in April 2018, and “Where the Pavement Ends,” published in July 2017, have both earned Navarra first-place recognition as a journalist from judges who praise her work as “masterful,” “informative,” and “reflecting skilled interviewing.” Navarra is a 1999 Albion graduate and daughter of Jim and Barb Navarra of Albion. She now lives in the Albany area.

“Green Mountain Grown,” about a multi-generation Vermont family whose 900 horses and weekly summer rodeos have made them the largest ranch east of the Mississippi, placed first in Human Interest at the AAEA-Ag Communicators Network Awards.

“Where the Pavement Ends” profiled a northeast family’s rodeo and stock company, its nationally-renowned livestock, and series of East Coast and twice-weekly summer rodeos, placed first among Farm/Ranch/Producer Profiles in the Livestock Publications Council Awards and third in the Freelance category of the American Horse Publications (AHP) Conference and Excellence in Media Awards, where Navarra also earned Honorable Mention in Single-Instructional Article for “The Creaky Performance Horse,” published in 2017 in The Horse.

In June, Navarra – who sits on the AHP board, chairs AHP membership development committee and contributes to the AHP marketing committee – completed the Empire State Association for Association Executives (ESSAE) Leadership Academy (ALA).

Navarra is a professional writer and photographer working in the equine industry since 2001. For more on her work, click here.

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