HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a
Spokane 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 Cana ...
- Coeur d'Alene-Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His writings draw on his experiences as an Indigenous American with ancestry from several tribes. He grew up on the
Spokane Indian Reservation The Spokan or Spokane people are a Native American Plateau tribe who inhabit the eastern portion of present-day Washington state and parts of northern Idaho in the United States of America. The current Spokane Indian Reservation is located i ...
and now lives in Seattle, Washington. His best-known book is '' The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven'' (1993), a collection of short stories. It was adapted as the film '' Smoke Signals'' (1998), for which he also wrote the screenplay. His first novel, ''
Reservation Blues ''Reservation Blues'' is a 1995 novel by American writer Sherman Alexie, a member of the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene tribes. Plot summary The novel follows the story of the rise and fall of Coyote Springs, a rock and blues band of Spokane Indians ...
'', received a 1996
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 ...
. His first
young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
novel, '' The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'' (2007), is a semi-autobiographical novel that won the 2007 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the
Odyssey Award The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production is an annual award conferred by the American Library Association upon the publisher of "the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United State ...
as best 2008
audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
for young people (read by Alexie). His 2009 collection of short stories and poems, ''
War Dances ''War Dances'' is a 2009 collection of short stories and poems by Sherman Alexie Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Spokane- Coeur d'Alene-Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. ...
'', won the 2010
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. F ...
.


Early life

Alexie was born at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington. As a child he lived on the Spokane Indian Reservation. His father, Sherman Joseph Alexie, was a member of the Coeur d'Alene tribe, and his mother, Lillian Agnes Cox, was of Colville,
Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
,
Spokane 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 Cana ...
and European American ancestry. One of his paternal great-grandfathers was of
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
descent. Alexie was born with
hydrocephalus Hydrocephalus is a condition in which an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) occurs within the brain. This typically causes increased pressure inside the skull. Older people may have headaches, double vision, poor balance, urinary i ...
, a condition that occurs when there is an abnormally large amount of cerebral fluid in the brain's ventricular system. He had to have brain surgery when he was six months old, and was at high risk of death or mental disabilities if he survived. Alexie's surgery was successful; he did not experience mental damage but had other side effects. His parents were
alcoholics Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
, though his mother achieved sobriety. His father often left the house on drinking binges for days at a time. To support her six children, Alexie's mother, Lillian, sewed quilts, worked as a
clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service c ...
at the Wellpinit Trading Post, and had some other jobs. Alexie has described his life at the reservation school as challenging, as he was constantly teased by other kids and endured abuse he described as "torture" from white nuns who taught there. They called him "The Globe" because his head was larger than usual, due to his hydrocephalus as an infant. Until the age of seven, Alexie had seizures and
bedwetting Nocturnal enuresis, also informally called bedwetting, is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually begins. Bedwetting in children and adults can result in emotional stress. Complications can include urina ...
; he had to take strong drugs to control them. Because of his health problems, he was excluded from many of the activities that are rites of passage for young Indian males. Alexie excelled academically, reading everything available, including auto repair manuals.


Education

In order to better his education, Alexie decided to leave the reservation and attend high school in
Reardan, Washington Reardan is a town in Lincoln County, Washington, United States. The population was 637 at the 2020 census. History Founded in 1882 and platted in 1889, Reardan was named for Central Washington Railroad engineer C.F. Reardan. Reardan was inco ...
., 22 miles from the reservation, and where Alexie was the only Native American student. He excelled at his studies and became a star player on the
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team, the Reardan High School Indians. He was elected
class president A class president, also known as a class representative, is usually the leader of a student body class, and presides over its class cabinet or organization within a student council. In a grade school, class presidents are generally elected by ...
and was a member of the
debate team Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
. His successes in high school won him a scholarship in 1985 to
Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the uni ...
, a Roman Catholic university in
Spokane 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 Cana ...
. Originally, Alexie enrolled in the
pre-med Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...
program with hopes of becoming a doctor, but found he was squeamish during dissection in his anatomy classes. Alexie switched to law, but found that was not suitable, either. He felt enormous pressure to succeed in college, and consequently, he began drinking heavily to cope with his
anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
. Unhappy with law, Alexie found comfort in literature classes. In 1987, he dropped out of Gonzaga and enrolled in
Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...
(WSU), where he took a creative writing course taught by Alex Kuo, a respected poet of Chinese-American background. Alexie was at a low point in his life, and Kuo served as a mentor to him. Kuo gave Alexie an anthology entitled ''Songs of This Earth on Turtle's Back'', by Joseph Bruchac. Alexie said this book changed his life as it taught him "how to connect to non-Native literature in a new way". He was inspired by reading works of poetry written by Native Americans.


Sexual harassment allegations

On February 28, 2018, Alexie published a statement regarding accusations of
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
against him by several women, including author Litsa Dremousis, with whom he alleged having a
consensual Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...
affair in the past and who claimed numerous women had spoken to her about Alexie's behavior.Sherman Alexie Statement
contributed by Shirley Qiu, ''Seattle Times''. Dated February 28, 2018.
Alexie admitted he had "harmed" other people besides Dremousis. Dremousis's response initially appeared on her Facebook page and was subsequently reprinted in ''The Stranger'' on March 1, 2018. The allegations against Alexie were detailed in an NPR story five days later. NPR corroborated the sexual harassment allegations of three other women. The fallout from these accusations includes the Institute of American Indian Arts renaming its Sherman Alexie Scholarship as the MFA Alumni Scholarship. The blog ''Native Americans in Children's Literature'' has deleted or modified all references to Alexie. In February 2018 it was reported that the
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
, which had just awarded Alexie its Carnegie Medal for ''You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir'', was reconsidering, and in March it was confirmed that Alexie had declined the award and was postponing the publication of a paperback version of the memoir. The
American Indian Library Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
rescinded its 2008 Best Young Adult Book Award from Alexie for ''The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'', "to send an unequivocal message that Alexie's actions are unacceptable."


Career

Alexie published his first collection of poetry, '' The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems'', in 1992 through Hanging Loose Press.Official Sherman Alexie website
With that success, Alexie stopped drinking and quit school just three credits short of a degree. However, in 1995, he was awarded an honorary bachelor's degree from
Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...
. In 2005, Alexie became a founding board member of Longhouse Media, a non-profit organization that is committed to teaching filmmaking skills to Native American youth and using media for cultural expression and social change. Alexie has long supported youth programs and initiatives dedicated to supporting at-risk Native youth.


Literary works

Alexie's stories have been included in several short story anthologies, including ''
The Best American Short Stories The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of '' The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in co ...
'' 2004, edited by Lorrie Moore; and ''
Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...
'' XXIX of the Small Presses. Additionally, a number of his pieces have been published in various literary magazines and journals, as well as online publications.


Themes

Alexie's poetry, short stories and novels explore themes of despair, poverty, violence and alcoholism among the lives of Native American people, both on and off the reservation. They are lightened by wit and humor. According to Sarah A. Quirk from the ''Dictionary of Library Biography,'' Alexie asks three questions across all of his works: "What does it mean to live as an Indian in this time? What does it mean to be an Indian man? Finally, what does it mean to live on an Indian reservation?" The protagonists in most of his literary works exhibit a constant struggle with themselves and their own sense of powerlessness in white American society.


Poetry

Within a year of graduating from college, Alexie received the Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship and the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
Poetry Fellowship. His career began with the publishing of his first two collections of poetry in 1992, entitled, ''I Would Steal Horses'' and ''The Business of Fancydancing.'' In these poems, Alexie uses humor to express the struggles of contemporary Indians on reservations. Common themes include alcoholism, poverty and racism. Although he uses humor to express his feelings, the underlying message is very serious. Alexie was awarded The Chad Walsh Poetry Prize by the
Beloit Poetry Journal The ''Beloit Poetry Journal'' is an American poetry magazine established in 1950 at Beloit College. Alexie refers to his writing as " fancydancing," a flashy, colorful style of competitive Pow wow dancing. Whereas older, traditional forms of Indian dance may be ceremonial and kept private among tribal members, the fancydance style was created by Native American veterans from World War II as a form of public entertainment. Alexie compares the mental, emotional, and spiritual outlet that he finds in his writings to the vivid self-expression of the dancers. Leslie Ullman commented on ''The Business of Fancydancing'' in the ''Kenyon Review,'' writing that Alexie "weaves a curiously soft-blended tapestry of humor, humility, pride and metaphysical provocation out of the hard realities...: the tin-shack lives, the alcohol dreams, the bad luck and burlesque disasters, and the self-destructive courage of his characters." Alexie's other collections of poetry include: *''The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems'' (1992) *''Old Shirts and New Skins'' (1993) *''First Indian on the Moon'' (1993) *''Seven Mourning Songs For the Cedar Flute I Have Yet to Learn to Play'' (1994) *''Water Flowing Home'' (1996) *''The Summer of Black Widows'' (1996) *''The Man Who Loves Salmon'' (1998) *''One Stick Song'' (2000) *''Face'' (2009), Hanging Loose Press (April 15, 2009) hardcover, 160 pages,


Short stories

Alexie published his first prose work, entitled '' The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,'' in 1993. The book consists of a series of short stories that are interconnected. Several prominent characters are explored, and they have been featured in later works by Alexie. According to Sarah A. Quirk, '' The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven'' can be considered a
bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...
with dual protagonists, "Victor Joseph and Thomas Builds-the-Fire, moving from relative innocence to a mature level on experience." ''
Ten Little Indians "Ten Little Indians" is a traditional American children's counting out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12976. The term "Indians" in this sense refers to Indigenous North American peoples. In 1868, songwriter Septimus Winner adap ...
'' (2004) is a collection of "nine extraordinary short stories set in and around the Seattle area, featuring Spokane Indians from all walks of urban life," according to Christine C. Menefee of the ''School Library Journal''. In this collection, Alexie "challenges stereotypes that whites have of Native Americans and at the same time shows the Native American characters coming to terms with their own identities." ''
War Dances ''War Dances'' is a 2009 collection of short stories and poems by Sherman Alexie Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Spokane- Coeur d'Alene-Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. ...
'' is a collection of short stories, poems, and short works. It won the 2010
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. F ...
. The collection, however, received mixed reviews. Other short stories by Alexie include: *''Superman and Me'' (1997) *''The Toughest Indian in the World'' (2000) (collection of short stories) *"What You Pawn I Will Redeem" (2003), published in ''The New Yorker'' *''Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories'' (2012) *"Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star−Spangled Banner' at Woodstock"


Novels

In his first novel, ''
Reservation Blues ''Reservation Blues'' is a 1995 novel by American writer Sherman Alexie, a member of the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene tribes. Plot summary The novel follows the story of the rise and fall of Coyote Springs, a rock and blues band of Spokane Indians ...
'' (1995), Alexie revisits some of the characters from '' The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.'' Thomas Builds-the-Fire, Victor Joseph, and Junior Polatkin, who have grown up together on the Spokane Indian reservation, were teenagers in the short story collection. In ''Reservation Blues'' they are now adult men in their thirties. Some of them are now musicians and in a band together. Verlyn Klinkenborg of the '' Los Angeles Times'' wrote in a 1995 review of ''
Reservation Blues ''Reservation Blues'' is a 1995 novel by American writer Sherman Alexie, a member of the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene tribes. Plot summary The novel follows the story of the rise and fall of Coyote Springs, a rock and blues band of Spokane Indians ...
'': "you can feel Alexie's purposely divided attention, his alertness to a divided audience, Native American and Anglo." Klinkenborg says that Alexie is "willing to risk didacticism whenever he stops to explain the particulars of the Spokane and, more broadly, the Native American experience to his readers." '' Indian Killer'' (1996) is a murder mystery set among Native American adults in contemporary Seattle, where the characters struggle with urban life, mental health, and the knowledge that there is a serial killer on the loose. Characters deal with the racism in the university system, as well as in the community at large, where Indians are subjected to being lectured about their own culture by white professors who are actually ignorant of Indian cultures. Alexie's young adult novel, '' The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'' (2007) is a coming-of-age story that began as a memoir of his life and family on the Spokane Indian reservation. The novel focuses on a fourteen-year-old Indian named Arnold Spirit. The novel is semi-autobiographical, including many events and elements of Alexie's life. For example, Arnold was born with hydrocephalus, and was teased a lot as a child. The story also portrays events after Arnold's transfer to Reardan High School, which Alexie attended. The novel received great reviews and continues to be a top seller. Bruce Barcott from the ''
New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' observed, "Working in the voice of a 14-year-old forces Alexie to strip everything down to action and emotion, so that reading becomes more like listening to your smart, funny best friend recount his day while waiting after school for a ride home." '' Flight'' (2007) also features an adolescent protagonist. The narrator, who calls himself "Zits," is a fifteen-year-old orphan of mixed Native and European ancestry who has bounced around the foster system in Seattle. The novel explores experiences of the past, as Zits experiences short windows into others' lives after he believes to be shot while committing a crime.


Memoir

Alexie's memoir, ''You Don't Have to Say You Love Me,'' was released by
Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...
in June 2017. Claudia Rowe of '' The Seattle Times'' wrote in June 2017 that the memoir "pulls readers so deeply into the author's youth on the Spokane Indian Reservation that most will forget all about facile comparisons and simply surrender to Alexie's unmistakable patois of humor and profanity, history and pathos." Alexie cancelled his book tour in support of ''You Don't Have to Say You Love Me'' in July 2017 due to the emotional toll that promoting the book was taking. In September 2017, he decided to resume the tour, with some significant changes. As he related to Laurie Hertzel of ''The Star Tribune'', "I’m not performing the book," he said. "I’m getting interviewed. That's a whole different thing." He went on to add that he won't be answering any questions that he doesn't want to answer. "I’ll put my armor back on," he said.


Films

In 1998 Alexie's film, '' Smoke Signals'' gained considerable attention. Alexie based the screenplay on his short story collection, '' The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven'', and characters and events from a number of Alexie's works make appearances in the film. The film was directed by Chris Eyre, ( Cheyenne-Arapaho) with a predominantly Native American production team and cast. The film is a road movie and
buddy film The buddy film is a subgenre of adventure and comedy film in which two people are put together and are on an adventure, a quest, or a road trip. The two often contrast in personality, which creates a dynamic onscreen different from a pairing o ...
, featuring two young Indians, Victor Joseph (
Adam Beach Adam Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Victor Joseph in '' Smoke Signals'', Frank Fencepost in ''Dance Me Outside'', Tommy on ''Walker, Texas Ranger'', Kickin' Wing in ''Joe Dirt'', U.S. Marine ...
) and Thomas Builds the Fire (
Evan Adams Evan Tlesla Adams (born November 15, 1966) is an Indigenous Canadian actor, playwright, and physician. A Coast Salish from the Sliammon First Nation near Powell River, British Columbia, he is best known internationally for his roles in the films ...
), who leave the reservation on a road trip to retrieve the body of Victor's dead father (
Gary Farmer Gary Dale Farmer (born June 12, 1953) is a Canadian actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his role as Nobody in the films ''Dead Man'' (1995) and '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'' (1999), and for his role in '' Smoke Signals'' (1 ...
). During their journey the characters' childhood is explored via flashbacks. The film took top honors at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
. It received an 86% and "fresh" rating from the online film database Rotten Tomatoes. '' The Business of Fancydancing'', written and directed by Alexie in 2002, explores themes of Indian identity,
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
identity, cultural involvement vs
blood quantum Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to estab ...
, living on the reservation or off it, and other issues related to what makes someone a "real Indian." The title refers to the protagonist's choice to leave the reservation and make his living performing for predominantly-white audiences.
Evan Adams Evan Tlesla Adams (born November 15, 1966) is an Indigenous Canadian actor, playwright, and physician. A Coast Salish from the Sliammon First Nation near Powell River, British Columbia, he is best known internationally for his roles in the films ...
, who plays Thomas Builds the Fire in "Smoke Signals", again stars, now as an urban gay man with a white partner. The death of a peer brings the protagonist home to the reservation, where he reunites with his friends from his childhood and youth. The film is unique in that Alexie hired an almost completely female crew to produce the film. Many of the actors improvised their dialogue, based on real events in their lives. It received a 57% and "rotten" rating from the online Film database Rotten Tomatoes. Other film projects include: *''49?'' (writer, 2003) *''The Exiles'' (presenter, 2008) *'' Sonicsgate'' (participant, 2009)


Bibliography


Poetry


Collections

* ''The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems'' (1992) * ''Old Shirts and New Skins'' (1993) * ''First Indian on the Moon'' (1993) * ''Seven Mourning Songs For the Cedar Flute I Have Yet to Learn to Play'' (1994) * ''Water Flowing Home'' (1996) * ''The Summer of Black Widows'' (1996) * ''The Man Who Loves Salmon'' (1998) * ''One Stick Song'' (2000) * ''Face'' (2009), Hanging Loose Press (April 15, 2009) hardcover, 160 pages, * ''Hymn'' (2017)


Uncollected poems


Memoir

* ''You Don't Have to Say You Love Me'' (2017), Hachette Book Group, .


Novels

* ''
Reservation Blues ''Reservation Blues'' is a 1995 novel by American writer Sherman Alexie, a member of the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene tribes. Plot summary The novel follows the story of the rise and fall of Coyote Springs, a rock and blues band of Spokane Indians ...
'' (1995) * '' Indian Killer'' (1996) * '' The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'' (2007) * '' Flight'' (2007)


Short fiction


Collections

* '' The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven'' (1993) * ''The Toughest Indian in the World'' (2000) * ''
Ten Little Indians "Ten Little Indians" is a traditional American children's counting out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12976. The term "Indians" in this sense refers to Indigenous North American peoples. In 1868, songwriter Septimus Winner adap ...
'' (2004) * ''
War Dances ''War Dances'' is a 2009 collection of short stories and poems by Sherman Alexie Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Spokane- Coeur d'Alene-Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. ...
'' (2009) * ''Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories'' (2012)


List of short stories


Children's books

*''Thunder Boy, Jr.'' (2016), illustrated by Yuyi Morales


Personal life

Alexie is married to Diane Tomhave, who is of Hidatsa, Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi heritage. They live in Seattle with their two sons.


Arizona HB 2281

In 2012, Arizona's HB 2281 removed Alexie's works, along with those of others, from Arizona school curriculum. Alexie's response:


Influences

Alexie's writings are meant to evoke sadness, but at the same time, he uses humor and pop culture that leave the readers with a sense of respect, understanding, and compassion. Alexie's influences for his literary works do not rely solely on traditional Indian forms. He "blends elements of popular culture, Indian spirituality, and the drudgery of poverty-ridden reservation life to create his characters and the world they inhabit," according to Quirk. Alexie's work is laced with often startling humor. According to Quirk, he does this as a "means of cultural survival for American Indians—survival in the face of the larger American culture's stereotypes of American Indians and their concomitant distillation of individual tribal characteristics into one pan-Indian consciousness."


Awards and honors

;1992 *
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
Poetry Fellowship ;1993 *
PEN/Hemingway Award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway ...
for Best First Book of Fiction for the story collection ''The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven'' ;1994 * Lila Wallace-''Reader's Digest'' Writers' Award ;1996 *
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 ...
(
Before Columbus Foundation The Before Columbus Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Ishmael Reed, "dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American multicultural literature". The Foundation makes annual awards for books published in ...
) for ''Reservation Blues'' * Granta Magazine: Twenty Best American Novelists Under the Age of 40 * New York Times Notable Book for ''Indian Killer'' * People Magazine: Best of Pages ;1999 * The New Yorker: 20 Writers for the 21st Century ;2001 *
PEN/Malamud Award The PEN/Malamud Award and Memorial Reading honors "excellence in the art of the short story", and is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. The selection committee is composed of PEN/Faulkner directors and representatives of Bernard Mal ...
;2007 * National Book Award, Young People's Literature, for ''The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian''"National Book Awards – 2007"
National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...
(NBF). Retrieved 2012-04-15.
(With acceptance speech by Alexie, interview with Alexie, and other material, partly replicated for all five Young People's Literature authors and books.)
;2009 * American Library Association
Odyssey Award The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production is an annual award conferred by the American Library Association upon the publisher of "the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United State ...
as the year's "best
audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
for children or young adults", read by Alexie (Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, LLC, 2008, )"Odyssey Award winners and honor audiobooks, 2008–present"
ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
;2010 * PEN/Faulkner Award for ''War Dances'' * Native Writers' Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award * Puterbaugh Awar
"
the first American Puterbaugh fellow *
California Young Reader Medal The California Young Reader Medal is a set of five annual literary awards conferred upon picture books and fiction books selected by vote of California schoolchildren from a ballot prepared by committee. The program was established in 1974 with Int ...
for ''The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'' ;2013 *The John Dos Passos Prize for Literature


See also

*
List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas This is a list of notable writers who are Indigenous peoples of the Americas. This list includes authors who are Alaskan Native, American Indian, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Indigenous peoples of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, a ...
* Louise Erdrich *
Native American Renaissance The Native American Renaissance is a term originally coined by critic Kenneth Lincoln in the 1983 book ''Native American Renaissance'' to categorise the significant increase in production of literary works by Native Americans in the United States in ...
* Native American studies *
There There (novel) ''There There'' is the debut novel by Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange. Published in 2018, the book follows a large cast of Native Americans living in the Oakland, California area and contains several essays on Native American histor ...


References

;Other sources * Alexie, Sherman; Bill Clinton and Jim Lehrer
"A Dialogue on Race with President Clinton"
. ''News Hour''. July 9, 1998. * Nygren, Åse. "A World of Story-Smoke: A Conversation with Sherman Alexie."
MELUS
' 30.4 (Winter 2005): 149–69. * West, Dennis, and Joan M. West.

''Cineaste'' 23.4 (Fall 1998): 29–33.


External links and further reading


Western American Literature Journal: Sherman Alexie
* * *
Voice of the New Tribes
article by Duncan Campbell in " The Guardian" January 3, 2003 * Sherman Alexie's poe
"Punch" in ''Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts'' (24.1)
* Berglund, Jeff and Jan Roush, eds. ''Sherman Alexie: A Collection of Critical Essays'', (2010) . * *
Sherman Alexie's heartbreaking reason for pausing his book tour
- via KUOW News and Information ;Interviews

by Robert Capriccioso, Identity Theory, published March 23, 2003

by Joelle Fraser, ''Iowa Review'', copyright 2001
"Northwest Passages: Sherman Alexie"
by Emily Harris, ''Think Out Loud'', Oregon Public Broadcasting, broadcast October 8, 2009

as 2007 National Book Award winner, by Rita Williams-Garcia

by Rita Kempley, '' The Washington Post'', July 3, 1998
"Sherman Alexie on Living Outside Cultural Borders"
by
Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...
, broadcast April 12, 2013 – with "Dig Deeper" on Alexie's life, work, and influence {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexie, Sherman 1966 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American poets 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century Native Americans American Book Award winners American children's writers American male novelists American male poets American male screenwriters American male short story writers American people of Russian descent American people with disabilities Coeur d'Alene people Film directors from Washington (state) Filmmakers from Seattle Gonzaga University alumni Harper's Magazine people National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners Native American children's writers Native American novelists Native American poets Native American short story writers Novelists from Washington (state) PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners PEN/Malamud Award winners People from Stevens County, Washington People with bipolar disorder People with hydrocephalus Postmodern writers Screenwriters from Washington (state) Spokane people The New Yorker people Washington State University alumni Writers from Seattle O. Henry Award winners Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters