Debra Cecille Magpie Earling (born August 3, 1957 in
Spokane, Washington
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...
) is a Native American
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
, and
short story writer
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
.
She is a member of the
Bitterroot Salish (tribe)
The Bitterroot Salish (or Flathead, Salish, Selish) are a Salish-speaking group of Native Americans, and one of three tribes of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana. The Flathead Reservation is home to th ...
. She is the author of ''Perma Red'' and ''The Lost Journals of Sacajewea'', which was on display at the Missoula Museum of Art in late 2011. Her work has also appeared in ''Ploughshares,'' the ''Northeast Indian Quarterly,'' and many anthologies.
Education and Career
At 18, Earling became the first public defender in the Tribal Justice System of the
Flathead Indian Reservation
The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes – also known as the
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. The ...
in Montana. She is a graduate of the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
, and holds both an MA in English (1991) and an MFA in Fiction Writing (1992) from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
.
Earling is currently a faculty member in the English Department at the
University of Montana
The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...
at
Missoula
Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...
. In 2016, she became the first Native American director of the
University of Montana
The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...
's creative writing program. She teaches Fiction and Native American Studies.
Works
''Perma Red''
Earling's first novel, ''Perma Red'',
takes place on the Flathead Indian Reservation in the 1940s. Louise White Elk, a determined and beautiful young woman, dreams of escaping and belonging. She comes of age as she is pursued by three dangerous men who will do anything to possess her—police officer Charlie Kicking Woman, the charismatic Baptiste, and Harvey Stoner, who owns nearly everything around him.
This novel won a Spur Award and Medicine Pipe Bearer Award for best first novel from the Western Writers Association, a WILLA Literary Award and the American Book Award. ''Perma Red'' touches on the still prevalent crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women in Montana and throughout the West. A team of indigenous and women filmmakers are adapting ''Perma Red'' for TV. “Native women need to tell their own stories. Now is the time for those stories to rise. Perma Red is only the beginning," Earling is stated as saying on the fundraising page for the adaption.
''The Lost Journals of Sacajewea''
This work first began as a project during the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition and is the result of a five year collaboration between Debra Magpie Earling and artist Peter Koch. The writings are done by Earling, as Koch compiled the historical photographs. The writings, along with the photographs, hope to illustrate native women’s longstanding struggle and desire for freedom through Sacajewea.
Anthologies
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Awards
* In January 2019, ''Perma Red'' was voted Montana's Best Loved Novel beloved by Montanans through “The Great Montana Read“ program, headed by
Montana PBS
Montana PBS is the PBS member public television network for the U.S. state of Montana. It is a joint venture between Montana State University (MSU) and the University of Montana (UM). The network is headquartered in the Visual Communications Bu ...
and
Montana Public Radio
Montana Public Radio is a network of public radio stations serving the U.S. state of Montana, primarily the western part of the state. The network is currently owned by the University of Montana, and its studios are located on the university camp ...
.
*2007
Guggenheim Fellow
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
* 2003
American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
*2003
WILLA Literary Award
WILLA Literary Award honors outstanding literature featuring women's stories, set in the Western United States, published each year. Women Writing the West (WWW), a non-profit association of writers and other professionals writing and promoting the ...
* 2006
NEA grant
Reviews
Debra Magpie Earling's debut novel ''Perma Red'' was well reviewed in ''January Magazine''.
References
External links
"Debra Magpie Earling", ''University of Minnesota''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earling, Debra Magpie
1957 births
20th-century American novelists
American women novelists
20th-century American women writers
American Book Award winners
Cornell University alumni
Living people
Native American academics
Native American women academics
American women academics
Native American novelists
University of Washington alumni
University of Montana faculty
21st-century American women
20th-century Native American women
20th-century Native Americans
Novelists from Washington (state)
Writers from Spokane, Washington
Native American women writers