Keynote Speaker

SHERMAN ALEXIE

Tuesday, September 2,
5:45 pm - 6:45 pm

A prolific novelist, poet and screenplay writer, Sherman Alexie has been hailed as one of the best young writers of his generation.

His recent novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won the 2007 National Book Award for young people's literature. The New Yorker named him one of the top 20 writers of the 21st century.

A Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian, Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington. His first screenplay, Smoke Signals, based on his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, became the first feature film produced, written, and directed by American Indians. He made his directorial debut with The Business of Fancy Dancing. In his lectures, Alexie tells tales of contemporary American Indian life laced with razor-sharp humor, unsettling candor, and biting wit. He reshapes our myths and stereotypes by speaking his mind on a wide range of issues— from race relations, religion, and politics to homophobia, war, and morality.