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Not everyone gets to meet the mind behind the first film they ever saw.
UNM student and Kiva Club member Keioshiah Peter was 6 years old when she saw Sherman Alexie’s “Smoke Signals,” and now she has the chance to meet the director himself.
American Indian writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie will host a reading today, showcasing his new collection of short stories titled “Blasphemy.” This is Alexie’s second visit to Albuquerque, co-sponsored by the UNM English department’s creative writing program and local independent bookstore Bookworks.
Bookworks’ marketing and events manager Amy Lahti said it’s important that UNM showcase American Indian writers.
“It’s really important to support the work of Native American authors and also to bring in very successful Native American authors like Alexie because we know that it is inspirational to somebody who maybe has a similar background as Alexie,” Lahti said. “He’s just really a great writer of the condition of being human in general; I think there’s something in the book that anyone from any background can relate to.”
Director of the creative writing program Daniel Mueller said today’s reading is a part of the English department’s ongoing series of author readings. Mueller helped organize two events earlier this semester, including a poetry reading by Luis Rodriguez and Richard Garcia, and a book reading by faculty member Gregory Martin.
Mueller said readings are a healthy reminder to students that writers are normal people.
“When I was a college student who was interested in writing fiction, I thought of fiction writers as occupying a sphere way up there in the heavens; I didn’t realize that they were actual human beings,” Mueller said. “When I had an opportunity to attend a reading, I recognized that a writer, Stanley Elkin, somebody whose work I have read, is an actual person — there he is, I could say hello to him and he would say hello back to me.”
Mueller said readings like Alexie’s should encourage writers to delve into their own work.
“Hearing a writer read their work or talk about their work demystifies a process that a lot of people, writers too, think of as being almost like magic,” he said. “‘How does someone like Sherman Alexie write this story that affected me in a particular way?’ He’s up there talking to you … it might very well empower a writer to do so themselves.”
Peter said Alexie’s work has influenced her since she was a child.
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She said the first film she could recall watching was Alexie’s “Smoke Signals,” the first all American Indian cast movie that’s based on his collection of short stories “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.”
“A lot of people see him as the epitome of native-ness,” Peter said. “He’s a contemporary writer that brings a lot of colony effects and brings them to life in a sense that young readers are able to connect with.”
Peter said Alexie’s work often discusses substance abuse and alcoholism, issues she said affect many American Indian families.
After reading Alexie’s novel “Indian Killer,” Peter started volunteering her time at homeless shelters and at the Indian Health Services in Shiprock, helping American Indians dealing with substance abuse.
“He’s kind of conveying a secret message to Native people about educating each other about it and getting out of that realm, because it’s not Native, it’s not Navajo, that’s for sure,” she said.
She said she hopes younger generations are motivated by the messages in Alexie’s work. “I think if more young readers were to read his books, they would be inspired to go get a degree in NAS (Native American Studies) or go do more research on health disparities like I have,” she said.
Sherman Alexie reading
Tonight
Priority seating 6:30 p.m., general seating 6:45 p.m., starts at 7 p.m.
Woodward Hall
Free
