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Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie at the BookExpo Conference in New York City, 2007
Born Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr.
October 7, 1966 (1966-10-07) (age 42)
Spokane, Washington
Occupation Poet, Short-Story Writer, Novelist, Screenwriter, Filmmaker
Nationality Spokane/Coeur d'Alene/American
Genres Native American literature, Humor, Documentary fiction
Literary movement Indigenous Nationalism
Notable work(s) The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Smoke Signals (film)
Notable award(s) American Book Award, National Book Award, PEN/Hemingway

Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is an award-winning and prolific author and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a modern Native American. Sherman's best known works include The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Smoke Signals, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Alexie is the recipient of numerous awards including the 1999 O. Henry Award, the 2000 inaugural PEN/Amazon.com Short Story Award, the Poetry Society of America's 2001 Shelley Memorial Award and the Poets and Writers "Writers Exchange 2001" Contest. He was a member of the 2000, 2001, 2005 & 2006 Independent Spirit Awards Nominating Committees. He has also served as a creative adviser to the Sundance Institute Writers Fellowship Program and the Independent Feature Films West (which has now been changed to Film Independent) Screenwriters Lab. Alexie most recently was a juror for the 2005 Rae Award.

Sherman Alexie at the 2007 Texas Book Festival.

At the University of Washington's 2003 commencement ceremony, Alexie was the commencement speaker. He was an Artist in Residence at the university and taught courses in American Ethnic Studies in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Recently, he earned the 2003 Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award, Washington State University's highest honor for alumni. He also holds honorary degrees from Seattle University (doctor of humanities, honoris causa - 2000) and Columbia College, Chicago (1999). Alexie has also worked as a mentor for the PEN Emerging Writers program.

Alexie's stories have been included in several prestigious short story anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories 2004, edited by Lorrie Moore; and Pushcart Prize XXIX of the Small Presses. Alexie also served as the guest editor for the winter 2000-01 issue of Ploughshares

Alexie's book, Flight was published in April 2007. His most recently published book, the young adult novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won the selection for the National Book Award in the young people's literature category.1

Contents

Personal

Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene) was born in October 1966, on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA. He was born with water in the brain (hydrocephalus). Against all odds, he survived without mental retardation. He did suffer seizures throughout his childhood, and as a child spent a lot of time reading. He read John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath by the time he was five years old. Alexie decided to attend high school off the reservation after finding his mother's name written in a textbook assigned to him. At his off-the-reservation high school he was the only Indian except the mascot.

In 1985 Alexie started at Gonzaga University on a scholarship. In 1987, he transferred to Washington State University. There he was encouraged to write poetry, and soon after graduating from WSU with a BA in American Studies, Alexie published his first work of poetry.

In college, Alexie had a drinking problem, but he quit drinking at the age of 23. He has been sober ever since.2

Sherman Alexie has been married since 1992 to Diane Tomhave, who is of Hidatsa, Ho-Chunk, and Potawatomi heritage, and they have two sons, the older is named Joseph (b. ca. 1997), and the younger is named David (b. ca. 2001).

Basketball

Alexie is also noted for his love of the sport of basketball, both as a fan of the pro and college game, and a player of street ball, and has written extensively on the subject. He was a longtime fan of the Seattle Sonics, prior to the team's relocation to Oklahoma City after the 2007-08 NBA season, and remains a fixture on the playgrounds of Seattle. His writings are frequently cited by notable basketball writers such as ESPN's Henry Abbott.

Prior to the relocation, the City of Seattle filed a lawsuit against the Sonics ownership group headed by businessman Clayton Bennett, in order to force the team to play out the remainder of its lease (which expires in 2010) in Seattle's KeyArena. Alexie testified in the trial as to the importance of the Sonics to the Seattle community, an experience which he would later call the "most terrifying and stressful public speaking gig I've ever had to endure."3 The testimony was ultimately for naught, as the City of Seattle settled with the ownership group, permitting the team to break their lease and move to Oklahoma City for the following season, in exchange for a multi-million dollar cash settlement. Alexie has hinted that he may become a fan of the Sonics' former rival, the Portland Trail Blazers.3

Works

Poetry

  • The Business of Fancydancing (poetry, 1991)
  • I Would Steal Horses (poetry, 1992)
  • Old Shirts and New Skins (poetry, 1993)
  • First Indian on the Moon (poetry, 1993)
  • Seven Mourning Songs For the Cedar Flute I Have Yet to Learn to Play (poetry, 1993)
  • Water Flowing Home (poetry, 1995)
  • The Summer of Black Widows (poetry, 1996)
  • The Man Who Loves Salmon (poetry, 1998)
  • One Stick Song (poetry, 2000)
  • Dangerous Astronomy (poetry, 2005)

Fiction

Films

Awards and honors

See also

Literature portal

Notes and references

  1. ^ Gwinn, Mary Ann (2007-10-11). "Sherman Alexie among National Book Award finalists", The Seattle Times. Retrieved on 11 October 2007. 
  2. ^ ShermanAlexie.com: The Official Site of Sherman Alexie. "Biography." http://www.fallsapart.com/biography.html
  3. ^ a b Sherman Alexie (2008-07-29). "Sixty-One Things I Learned During the Sonics Trial". The Stranger. Retrieved on 2008-07-31.
  • Nygren, Åse. "A World of Story-Smoke: A Conversation with Sherman Alexie." MELUS 30.4 (Winter 2005): 149-169. 18 June 2007.
  • West, Dennis, and Joan M. West. "Sending Cinematic Smoke Signals: An Interview with Sherman Alexie." Cineaste 23.41998 29-33. 18 June 2007.[1]
  • http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/OneAmerica/transcript.html - News hour (Sherman, Clintion, Lehrer)

External links

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