BEND â The High Desert Museum is now accepting submissions for the 2021 Waterston Desert Writing Prize. The prize honors literary nonfiction that illustrates artistic excellence, sensitivity to place, and desert literacy with the desert as both subject and setting. Emerging, mid-career and established nonfiction writers are invited to apply. Inspired by author and poet Ellen Waterstonâs love of the High Desert, a region that has been her muse for more than 30 years, the prize launched in 2014 and annually recognizes the vital role deserts play worldwide in the ecosystem and human narrative. The prize is named in honor of actor Sam Waterston, who provided the seed money for the endowment that helps fund the award.