Sherman Alexia

Sherman Alexia

Sherman Alexie (born Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. on October 7, 1966 in Wellpinit ) is a Native American writer , humorist and screenwriter . He is descended from the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene tribes . In many of his works, Alexie deals relentlessly and with black humor with the often bleak conditions in the reservations and the realities of life in the city Indians. Alexie says about herself: "I write about the kind of Indian I am: kind of mixed up, kind of odd, not traditional. I'm a rez kid who's gone urban" ("I write about the kind of Indians that I am: confused, bizarre, not traditional. I'm a child from the reservation who has become urban. ").

Many works Alexies were awarded: Reservation Blues , his first novel, was awarded the American Book Award in 1996 for his semi-biographical novel for young people The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Alexie received the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the Swedish Peter Pan Prize and his short story collection War Dances won the 2010 PEN / Faulkner Award for Fiction . He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2015 .

life and work

Sherman Alexie was born on October 7, 1966 in Wellpinit on the Spokane reservation in Washington , where he grew up with his mother and five siblings. His father was an alcoholic and often disappeared for long periods. After his birth, Alexia suffered from hydrocephalus and had to undergo brain surgery when he was six months old. Doctors gave him little chance of survival, and even if he survived the severe operation, there was a risk of intellectual disability. Although this did not occur, Sherman Alexia suffered from seizures, was bed-wetting, and had to take heavy medication throughout his childhood as a result of the illness and the operation. Due to his still excessively large head, he was nicknamed "Globe" in his childhood. Alexie learned to read at the age of three and by the age of five was able to read sophisticated novels, for example by John Steinbeck . Alexie attended High School in Reardan, 30 kilometers from the reservation, where he was "the only Indian besides the school mascot." He was one of the best students of his year and was one of the top players on the basketball team.

Alexie received a scholarship that enabled him to study at Gonzaga University in Spokane in 1985 . He initially enrolled in medicine and soon switched to law . In 1987 he gave up that too and moved to Washington State University in Pullman , where he studied English literature . A course in creative writing with the lecturer and writer Alexander Kuo , who became Alexie's mentor, brought him to literary writing, and Alexie was particularly devoted to poetry. In 1992, Alexie's first book of short stories and poems, The Business of Fancydancing, was published. Stories and Poems at Hanging Loose Press. Alexia then radically changed his life, dropped out of college to concentrate on literature, and completely renounced drinking after six years of excessive alcohol consumption.

In 1993 he published his short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , which has received numerous awards. His first novel, Reservation Blues , came out two years later. For him he was awarded the "Granta's Best of Young American Novelists", the "Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award" and the "Murray Morgan Prize". The 1996 thriller "Indian Killer" was featured in "People's Best of Pages" and "New York Times Notable Book".

Based on his short story This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , Alexie wrote the script for Smoke Signals . The script was made into a film by Indian director and producer Chris Eyre and was released in 1998. At the Sundance Film Festival , where the film premiered, it was awarded the Audience Award.

Since 1998 Alexie has also regularly participated in poetry competitions and comedy festivals. Together with her journalist and writer friend Jess Walter , Alexie has been running the literature podcast A Tiny Sense Of Accomplishment since 2014 .

Sherman Alexie lives with his wife, also of Native American descent, and their two sons in Seattle , Washington .

Works

Poetry

• 1991: The Business of Fancydancing
• 1992: I Would Steal Horses
• 1993: 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
• 1995: Water Flowing Home
• 1996: The Summer of Black Widows
• 1998: The Man Who Loves Salmon
• 2000: One Stick Song
• 2005: Dangerous Astronomy
• 2005: Il powwow della fine del mondo
• 2009: Face ISBN 9781931236713
• 2017: Hymn

prose

• 1993: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven . Short stories
• 1995: Reservation Blues . novel
• 1996: Indian Killer . novel
• 2000: The Toughest Indian in the World .
  • Translator Regina Rawlinson: Salmon Hunter . Short stories. Goldmann, Munich 2002
• 2003: Ten Little Indians . Short stories
• 2007: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian .
  • Übers. Gerald Jung , Katharina Orgaß: The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian . Novel ISBN 978-3-423-24742-9
• 2007: Flight. novel
• 2009: War Dances. Novel ISBN 9780802119193
• 2017: You Don't Have to Say You Love Me. Autobiography ISBN 9780316396776

Scripts

• 1998: Smoke Signals
• 2002: The Business of Fancydancing
• 2003: 49? (Short documentary)

Awards

• 1991: "Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship"
• 1992: "National Endownment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship"
• "New York Times Book Review Notable book of the Year" for "The Business of Fancydancing"
• "Slipstream Chapbook Contest Winner" for "I Would Steal Horses"
• 1993: "Purple Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award"
• "Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award Citation"
• "PEN / Hemingway Award: Best First Book of Fiction Citation Winner" for "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven"
• "Great Lakes College Association: Best First Book of Fiction Award"
• 1994: "Bram Stroker Award Nomine" for "Distances"
• 1996: "Before Columbus Foundation": "American Book Award"
• Morgan Murray Prize for Reservation Blues
• G "ranta Magazine: Twenty Best American Novelist Under the Age of 40"
• 1998: "Tacoma Public Library Annual Literary Award"
• "New York Times Notable Book2 for" Indian Killer "
• "People Magazine2:" Best of Pages "
• 17th Annual World Championship Poetry Bout winner
• 1999: " Independent Spirit Award - Best Screenplay Debut for" Smoke Signals "
• 1999: "New Yorker: 20 Writers for the 21st Century"
• 2007: Shortlist Los Angeles Times Book Prize for "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"
• 2007: " National Book Award prize for Young People's literature" for "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"
• 2008: "Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Young Adult Fiction" for "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"
• 2008 " ALA Best Books for Young Adults " for "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"
• 2009 Owl of the Month November 2009 for "The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian"
• 2010 PEN / Faulkner Award for War Dances

literature

• Amina Grunewald: Post-Indian self-assertions in Sherman Alexie's novel "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" and in the film "The Business of Fancydancing". Diss. Phil. Humboldt University 2016, North American Literature and Cultural Studies, Chair Eva Boesenberg. ISBN 978-3-8288-3932-8

Web links

• Literature by and about Sherman Alexie in the catalog of the German National Library
• Short biography and reviews of works by Sherman Alexie at perlentaucher.de
• Sherman Alexie in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (English)
• Official website
• About Sherman Alexie

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sherman Alexie - Birth Chart, Horoscope | Astro-Seek.com. Retrieved March 31, 2018 . 
2. ↑ http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/alexie/onalexie.htm
3. ↑ Article "Sherman Alexie: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" in Coyote No. 84 / Winter 2009. AGIM magazine
4. ↑ Academy Members. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed January 10, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/alexie/onalexie.htm
7. ↑ Podcast A Tiny Sense Of Accomplishment ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/alexie/onalexie.htm