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Literature and Literary Criticism

Writing by Native Americans is growing. Authors now work in a wide variety of genres, from avant-garde belle-lettres to mystery fiction. These publications are collected, and some better-known authors include: Sherman Alexie, Tiana Bighorse, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Leslie Maron Silko, Gerald Vizenor, Anna Lee Walters, and James Welsh.

American Indian Literature: An Anthology. Revised edition by Alan R. Velie. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.  *R- RMRR PM197 E1 A4 1991
Offers the best-known tales, oral and written, for study.

American Indian Voices. Edited by Karen Harvey. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press,
1995.  HBC 96-10967
One of many growing compilations on modern era Native writers.

Bruchac, Joseph. Survival This Way: Interviews with American Indian Poets. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1987.  JFM 82-1, v. 15

Dictionary of Native American Literature. Edited by Andrew Wiget. New York: Garland Publishing, 1994.  *R- RMRR PM155 D53 1994

Growing Up Native American: An Anthology. Edited by Patricia Riley. New York: Morrow, 1993.  HBC 93-8965
Writings by young Natives that reflect the issues they face in daily life and society.

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. JFD 05-4205
A powerful essay on the importance of storytelling for Native cultural survival.

The Remembered Earth: An Anthology of Contemporary Native American Literature. Edited by Geary Hobson. Albuquerque: Red Earth Press, 1979.  JFD 79-7088

Smoke Rising: The Native North American Literary Companion. Joseph Bruchac, editor. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1995.  HBC 95-10190

Spider Woman’s Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women. Edited by Paula Gunn Allen. Boston: Beacon Press, 1989. HBC 89-22989
An outgrowth of the women’s studies movement, also reflecting the important roles Native women play within their own societies.