![]() ![]() He gave us all a new perspective, and for this he was handed a slew of awards-and even a few films based on his books. His books and stories were painted with an empathetic glow. ![]() His characters were carved from a thoroughly modern, if bittersweet, sensibility interwoven with the traditional genre. ![]() His edgy, poignant stories of “the rez” were refreshing and contemporary. Sitting here now, just looking back over my own all-too-shortlist of Native American readings, I’m partial to the poetic Joy Harjo, the postmodern Louise Erdrich, the ever-so-clever Sherman Alexie.Īnd while I’m not sure Alexie was ever in on the “Renaissance” thing, for the last two decades he has been my go-to. Scott Momaday’s spellbinding novel “House of Dawn” (1969) was followed by the works of many others over the next several decades. The old “Native Renaissance”? That dates to the late sixties, a movement that focused attention on poetry and novels by Native writers then emerging, a literature that still shimmers like the soft light of a desert sunset. They have a penchant for diving deep into psyches, a gift for internalizing their many tragic stories of Native life. The buzz has focused on a mix of contemporary novelists: Tommy Orange, Terese Marie Mailhot, Katherena Vermette and others who blend an activist strain alongside their struggles with Native identity. A lot has been written lately about a “ New Native Renaissance” in literature. ![]()
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