2007  AML Award: Novel

Presented to:
Coke Newell

For:
On the Road to Heaven

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The journey of a Colorado mountain hippie that begins with Jack Kerouac and a mélange of Eastern philosophies seems unlikely to end in conversion to the Mormon faith and an LDS mission to Colombia. Yet it is precisely that contradiction that makes On the Road to Heaven such a valuable addition to Mormon literature. Part memoir, part conversion story, part missionary narrative, the novel is unified by the idea that truth is essential, that it is knowable, and that the search for truth can and should change the course of one’s life. This idea challenges our assumptions that it is more remarkable that protagonist Kit West, hitchhiker, pot-smoker, hippie, can find a place within the LDS faith and culture than that any of us, with our unique stories and histories, can. This autobiographical novel illustrates beautifully the idea that it doesn’t matter so much where we come from as where we choose to be. The Association for Mormon Letters is proud to present the 2007 Award in the Novel to Coke Newell for On the Road to Heaven.

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