New Voices in Native American Writing

Writing the future

Jason S. Ordaz (Institute of American Indian Arts)

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Original Air Date: 
January 26, 2019

Every so often, a new literary movement coalesces. A new generation of writers finds a voice. This time they’re young, gifted, and Native American.

Person at the Institute for American Indian Arts.
Articles

A wide range of writers — now celebrated with commercial and critical success — work to celebrate an evolving literary canon without limiting it. 

The IAIA campus
Audio

A new wave of Native writers is coming of age. And at the center of it is a one-of-a-kind MFA program at the IAIA, in Santa Fe. Director Jennifer Foerster told Charles that the goal is to rewrite the literary landscape.

Length: 
05:59
A powwow in 2015 at the Institute for American Indian Arts.
Articles

Tommy Orange's debut novel “There There” was one of the big breakout books of 2018. He told Steve that with his novel, he hoped to better represent modern Native Americans that have grown up living in cities.

Length: 
14:44
Terese Mailhot
Audio

Author Terese Mailhot's best-selling debut book "Heart Berries" is a slim, devastating memoir of a childhood filled with abuse, set on the Seabird Island Band in British Columbia. She reads a passage to demonstrate the lyric quality of her prose.

Length: 
03:08
Books on the shelf
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David Treuer is Ojibwe from the Leech Lake Reservation. He’s a literature professor at the University of Southern California, as well as a writer and a novelist. And he does not believe in putting fiction into ethnic boxes.

Length: 
13:03
Kevin Goodan with all his brothers and step-father this summer.
Audio

Do you have to be Native American to write Native American fiction? Kevin Goodan grew up among the Salish people. His brothers and stepfather are tribal members. But Kevin is white.

Length: 
14:05
Paul Wendell Jr.
Articles

Rapper Tall Paul uses hip-hop to reclaim his Native language—and he's not the only musician remixing Native culture.

Length: 
9:17
Extras

Show Details 📻
Airdates
January 26, 2019
September 07, 2019
May 23, 2020
February 27, 2021
April 30, 2022
June 10, 2023
Last modified: 
June 09, 2023