Shawn Vestal is an American author based in the state of Washington. He is best known for his collection of short stories, Godforsaken Idaho, [1] which earned him the PEN Robert W. Bingham Prize in 2014. He currently lives in Spokane where he served as a columnist for The Spokesman-Review . [2] [3] He retired from the newspaper in March 2024. [4] He and his wife Amy Cabe have a son, Cole Vestal.