Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie balls
Sherman Alexie at the BookExpo Conference in New York City in 2007.
Occupation	Poet, Short-Story Writer, Novelist, Screenwriter, Filmmaker
Nationality	Spokane/Coeur d'Alene/American
Genre	Native American literature, Humor, Documentary fiction
Literary movement	Indigenous Nationalism
Notable works	The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Smoke Signals (film)
Notable awards	American Book Award, National Book Award, PEN/Hemingway, PEN/Faulkner

Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a writer, poet, filmmaker, and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American. Two of Alexie's best known works are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1994), a book of short stories and Smoke Signals, a film. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a semi-autobiographical young adult novel, was his latest commercial success. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Personal

Sherman Alexie was born on October 7, 1966 in the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He was born with hydrocephalus, which caused him to suffer from seizures throughout his childhood. Alexie made the conscious decision to leave his reservation and attend Reardan High School, where he knew he would receive a better education.

In 1985, Alexie enrolled at Gonzaga University on a scholarship. In 1987, he transferred to Washington State University (WSU), where he fell under the influence of Alexander Kuo. Kuo inspired Alexie to write poetry, and soon after graduating, Alexie published his first collection of poems, The Business of Fancy Dancing, through Hanging Loose Press.

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 to use media for cultural expression and social change. Mr. Alexie has long supported youth programs and initiatives dedicated to uplifting at-risk Native youth.

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

Basketball

Alexie is also noted for his love of basketball, both as an audience member and a player. He is a loyal and enthusiastic supporter of the now relocated Seattle SuperSonics. His writings on the sport are frequently cited by notable basketball writers, such as ESPN's Henry Abbott.

Prior to the SuperSonics' relocation, the City of Seattle filed a lawsuit against the team's ownership group headed by businessman Clayton Bennett in an attempt to force the team to play out the remainder of its lease (which was to expire in 2010) in Seattle's KeyArena. Alexie testified in favor of the city, stressing the importance of the Sonics to Seattle's culture and community, as well as to individual fans - an experience that he would later describe as the "most terrifying and stressful public speaking gig I've ever had to endure." However, the City of Seattle settled with the ownership group, permitting the team to break its lease and move to Oklahoma City for the following season, in exchange for a multi-million dollar cash settlement. Despite the personal and communal loss, Alexie retains his love for the game, and continues to follow professional basketball passionately.

Works

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. Additionally, a number of his pieces have been published in various literary magazines and journals, as well as online publications.

Poetry

• On The Amtrak from Boston to New York City (1990)
• The Business of Fancydancing (1991)
• I Would Steal Horses (1992)
• Old Shirts and New Skins (1993)
• Postcards to Columbus (1993)
• First Indian on the Moon (1993)
• Seven Mourning Songs For the Cedar Flute I Have Yet to Learn to Play (1993)
• Water Flowing Home (1995)
• The Summer of Black Widows (1996)
• The Man Who Loves Salmon (1998)
• One Stick Song (2000)
• Dangerous Astronomy (2005)
• Face (2009), Hanging Loose Press (April 15, 2009) hardcover, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1931236713
• "SHOES"

Fiction by Sherman Alexie

• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd (February 28, 1994), hardcover: 224 pages, ISBN 978-0436201905
• Reservation Blues (1995)
• Indian Killer (1996)
• The Toughest Indian in the World (2000) (collection of short stories)
• Ten Little Indians (2003)
• Flight (2007 novel)
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (September 12, 2007), hardcover, 230 pages, ISBN 978-0316013680
• War Dances (2009)
  • "Fiction Chronicle" review of War Dances by Jan Stuart, Sunday Book Review, The New York Times October 22, 2009

Films

• Smoke Signals (writer, 1998; adapted from a short story, "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" in Lone Ranger and Tonto)
• The Business of Fancydancing (writer and director, 2002)
• 49? (writer, 2003)
• The Exiles (presenter, 2008)

Awards and honors

• 1992: National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship
• The New York Times Book Review Notable book of the Year for The Business of Fancydancing
• 1996: Before Columbus Foundation: American Book Award
• 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
• 2007: National Book Award prize for Young People's literature for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
• 2010: PEN/Faulkner Award for War Dances [2]
• 2010: Native Writers' Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2010: recipient of the Puterbaugh " award, the first American Puterbaugh fellow
• 2010: California Young Reader Medal for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Translators of Sherman Alexie's works

Alexie's works have been translated into many languages. His translators include:

• Czech - Jiri Hruby, Lubos Snizek
• Hebrew - Lia Nirgad
• Hungarian - Zoltán Holbok
• Japanese - Mizuhito Kanehara
• Punjabi - Gurjap Toor
• Swahili - Kudus Babatunde Akinwande
• Swedish - Ingela Jernberg
• Persian - Amir Mehdi Haghighat
• Tamil - Velupillai Prabhakaran
• French - Valérie Le Plouhinec
• Finnish - Jussi Hirvi

See also

• List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
• Native American Renaissance
• Native American studies

Notes and references

• Nygren, Åse. "A World of Story-Smoke: A Conversation with Sherman Alexie." MELUS 30.4 (Winter 2005): 149-169.
• West, Dennis, and Joan M. West. "Sending Cinematic Smoke Signals: An Interview with Sherman Alexie". Cineaste 23.41998 29-33.
• Alexie, Sherman; Bill Clinton and Tom Lehrer. "A Dialogue on Race with President Clinton". News Hour (July 9, 1998).

External links and further reading

• Fallsapart.com, Official Sherman Alexie Site
• Sherman Alexie at IMDb
• OPB.org, Interview on Oregon Public Broadcasting radio show Think Out Loud (aired October 8, 2009)
• "In His Own Literary World, a Native Son Without Borders" article by Eric Konigsberg in The New York Times October 20, 2009