Eddie Chuculate is an American fiction writer who is enrolled in the
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...
and of
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
descent. He earned a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University. His first book is ''Cheyenne Madonna''. For his short story, ''Galveston Bay, 1826,'' Chuculate was awarded the
O. Henry Award
The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry.
The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...
. In 2010 ''
World Literature Today
''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book revie ...
'' featured Chuculate as the journal's "Emerging Author."
Background
Chuculate was born in
Claremore, Oklahoma
Claremore is a city and the county seat of Rogers County in Green Country or northeastern Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census, a 5.4 percent increase over the figure of 18,581 recorded in 2010.Muskogee, Oklahoma. He worked as a newspaper sports writer for nine years and a copy editor for ten. He later earned a degree in creative writing from the
Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic S ...
and held a two-year Wallace Stegner Fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University. In 2010 he was admitted to the
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative W ...
at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
, where he graduated with a master's degree in 2013.
Career
Author
Chuculate wrote ''Voices at Dawn: New Work from the Institute of American Indian Arts 1995-1996''.
His story, ''Yoyo'' was published by '' The Iowa Review'' and it received a Pushcart Prize citation.
Chuculate won a PEN / O. Henry Award in 2007 for his story, ''Galveston Bay, 1826.'' In it, four Cheyenne people encounter the ocean for the first time when they travel to the Gulf of Mexico, experiencing a "cataclysmic journey" on their way.
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
, a short-story writer and novelist, was one of the jurors and she wrote an essay about her favorite piece. She said Chuculate's story "won me first, and last, by surprising me: every sentence unexpected, yet infallible. On rereading, both qualities remain... The calm, beautiful, unexplaining accuracy of description carries us right through the madness of the final adventure." Chuculate's stories have appeared in ''
Manoa
Mānoa (, ) is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. The neighborhood is approximately three miles (5 km) east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile (1600 m) from Ala Moana and Waikiki at .
Neighbo ...
'', ''
Ploughshares
''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Bos ...
'', ''Blue Mesa Review,'' ''Many Mountains Moving'' and ''
The Kenyon Review
''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, US, home of Kenyon College. ''The Review'' was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959. ' ...
''. In the July / August 2010 edition of ''
World Literature Today
''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book revie ...
'', Chuculate was featured as the journal's "Emerging Author."
His first book of fiction, ''Cheyenne Madonna'', was published in July 2012. It is about a young Creek/Cherokee man who writes home to his father as he wanders the Southwest. Joy Harjo, a Creek poet, say that it "investigates the broken-heart nation of Indian men. The epicenter of action is the tenuous meeting place between boyhood and manhood, between fierce need and desire." The seven stories follow the life of Jordan Coolwater, who leaves Oklahoma and goes West to pursue a sculpting career, all the while battling the two constants in his life: alcohol and art. The stories also explore history, myth, interracial relationships, racism and father-son relationships. On July 19, 2010,
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
review stated, "Chuculate writes forthright prose in a somber key, examining without judgment the lives of Native American characters. ... Memory and will converge here to powerful effect."
"Dear Shorty" from the book is also published in ''Road to Nowhere and Other New Stories from the Southwest''.
The Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...
'' and ''
The Manhattan Mercury
The Manhattan Mercury is the local newspaper for Manhattan, Kansas. The ''Mercury'' is a daily newspaper published in the afternoon five days a week, and in the morning on Sunday. No Saturday edition is issued. The newspaper is physically printe ...
''. He is an editor for the ''Trillium Literary Journal''.
Educator
Chuculate is on the faculty of Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver.