10/13/99

Diane Manuel, News Service (650) 725-1945; e-mail: dmanuel@leland.stanford.edu

Poet Sherman Alexie to read his work at Stanford

Fiction writer and poet Sherman Alexie will give a reading of his work at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 25, in Building 320, Room 105.

The reading is free and open to the public.

Alexie is the first of three writers who will visit the campus in the second year of the President's Reading Series. The series was established in the Creative Writing Program by President Gerhard Casper to provide opportunities for the Stanford community to experience the work of some of the most distinguished contemporary writers. It complements the Jean and Bill Lane Lecture Series, now in its 17th year.

Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, is the author of the novels Reservation Blues and Indian Killer; he also has written several collections of poetry and short stories, including The Business of Fancydancing and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. He collaborated with director Chris Eyre on the award-winning film Smoke Signals, which was based on Alexie's short story This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona. The recipient of many awards, including a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Book Award of the Before Columbus Foundation and the PEN/Hemingway Award, Alexie lives in Seattle.

The other visitors in this year's President's Reading Series are fiction writer Allegra Goodman on Jan. 19 and poet Brigit Pegeen Kelly on May 9. For more information, call 725-1208.

 

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