Sherman Alexie Visits UNL!

Acclaimed author Sherman Alexie will be the featured author at the launch event for Prairie Schooner‘s Winter 2012 Issue, for which he guest edited a portfolio of poetry and prose by contemporary Native American authors.

Alexie’s most recent books are War Dances, stories and poems, and Face, a book of poems. He is the winner of the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award, the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the 2001 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, and a Special Citation for the 1994 PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Fiction.

The event will take place at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center at 7 p.m. on January 28 and 29. The two-day event is free and open to the public. On the first evening, during which Alexie will not be in attendance, Prairie Schooner will host a screening of Smoke Signals, a film written and co-produced by Alexie. On the second evening Alexie will read from his creative work, which will be followed by an on-stage interview with Kwame Dawes, Prairie Schooner Editor-in-Chief, and a book signing.

Dawes says of the event, “Alexie represents one of a select group of writers whose fame is matched by their brilliance. To have him visit UNL is simply exciting, and especially so for Prairie Schooner because of his role as guest editor for our special Native American portfolio issue.”

The launch event has been made possible through funding from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Sciences, the Institute for Ethnic Studies, the Native American Studies program, and the English and History departments. It is a major feature of Prairie Schooner’s annual program of events, held each year to celebrate an internationally-themed winter issue.

Make sure to stay tuned to the website, blog, Facebook and Twitter for further announcements about the launch event and our Winter Issue!