Sherman Alexie Overview

Sherman J. Alexie, Jr. was born in October 1966. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane. Born hydrocephalic (water on the brain), Alexie underwent brain operation at... [more]

Sherman J. Alexie, Jr. was born in October 1966. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane. Born hydrocephalic (water on the brain), Alexie underwent brain operation at the age of six. He survived the surgery, however subsequently suffered seizures throughout his childhood. Despite such difficulties, Alexie demonstrated a remarkable appetite for reading: devouring such books as "The Grapes of Wrath" at the age of 5. However, Alexie's penchant for books and learning soon collided with the educational limitations of his surroundings. Not only was he chastised, picked on, and alienated for his bookishness, the quality of education at the reservation schools proved to be less than sub par. After discovering his mother's name written in a textbook assigned to him at the Wellpinit school, Alexie made a conscious decision to leave the reservation and attend high school in Reardan, WA, about 20 miles south of Wellpinit. In his young adult novel "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" Alexie addresses the necessity of his decision to leave the reservation. In the book the main character, Arnold Spirit, is told by his white teacher that he must leave the rez in order to obtain any chance of making it in the world: "You've been fighting since you were born...you fought off that brain surgery. You fought off those seizures. You fought off all the drunks and drug addicts. You kept your hope. and now, you have to take your hope and go somewhere where other people have hope...You're going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation." Although Alexie clearly knew his decision to leave the reservation was essential to the betterment of his education, it was, nonetheless, a difficult one that inevitably alienated him from his concept of home, family, and self. Thus, instigating the emergent pursuit of questions concerning culture and identity that would come to typify Alexie's writing. After graduating Reardan High in 1985, Alexie went on to attend Gonzaga University in Spokane on scholarship. After two years at Gonzaga, he transferred to Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, WA. where he stumbled onto a poetry workshop. There Alexie found his proverbial calling. Upon graduating WSU, Alexie received the Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship in 1991 and the National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship in 1992. Shortly thereafter, two of his poetry collections, "The Business of Fancydancing" and "I Would Steal Horses," were published. Alexie continued to write prolifically and his first collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, was published by Atlantic Monthly Press in 1993. For this collection he received a PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Book of Fiction, and was awarded a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award. In March 2005 Grove Atlantic Press reissued the collection with the addition of two new stories. In 1995 Alexie published his first novel, "Reservation Blues," which won the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award and the Murray Morgan Prize. Subsequently, he was named one of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists. Alexie's second novel, "Indian Killer", published in 1996, was named one of People's Best of Pages and a New York Times Notable Book. In 1997 Alexie collaborated with Chris Eyre, a Cheyenne/Arapaho Indian and New York University film school graduate, on a film project inspired by Alexie's short story "This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona." The resulting product was "Smoke Signals", which went on to win an Audience Award and the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as a Christopher Award and an Independent Spirit Award. Alexie's recent honors include the 2003 Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award, Washington State University's highest honor for alumni. His work was selected for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories 2004, edited by Lorrie Moore, and Pushcart Prize XXIX of the Small Presses. His short story "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" was selected by juror Ann Patchett as her favorite story for the The O. Henry Prize Stories 2005. He holds honorary degrees from Seattle University (doctor of humanities, honoris causa - 2000) and Columbia College, Chicago (1999). [show less]