Here First: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers - Paperback

by Arnold Krupat (Editor), Brian Swann (Editor)

An important collection of essays by twenty-six Native American writers that explores their unique lives, art, and the complex issues of identity, compiled by the editors of I Tell You Now: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers

The stunning essays in Here First demonstrate the breadth of experience of twenty-six individuals united in the creative expression of a Native American heritage. Each has a different relation to that heritage, and in describing it through personal and family history, with verse and in anecdotes, the writers give a strong image of the different cultures that have shaped them.
This is a vivid and diverse portrait of Native American culture, a living history and the kind of collective memoir that makes for fascinating and rewarding reading.

Contributors include:
Sherman Alexie - Carroll Arnett (Gogisgi) - Betty Louise Bell - Duane Bigeagle - Gloria Bird - Kimberly M. Blaeser - Nora Marks Dauenhauer - Charlotte Declue (Kawashinsay) - Anita Endrezze - Hanay Geiogamah - Gordon Henry, Jr., - Patricia Penn Hilden - Roberta Hill - Leanne Howe - Rex Lee Jim - Evelina Zuni Lucero - Louis Owens - W.S. Penn - Greg Sarris - Vickie Sears - John E. Smelcer - Luci Tapahonso - Clifford E. Trafzer - Anna Lee Walters Elizabeth Woody - Ofelia Zepeda

Front Jacket

Here First is an important new collection of essays by Native American writers compiled by Arnold Krupat and Brian Swann, the editors of I Tell You Now: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers. In Here First, authors such as Sherman Alexie, Greg Sarris, and Elizabeth Woody tell the stories of their lives and their art. Each essay demonstrates the breadth of experience of twenty-seven individuals united in the creative expression of a Native American heritage. Each has a different relation to that heritage, and in describing it through personal and family history, with verse and in anecdotes, the writers give a strong image of the different cultures that have shaped them. This is living history and the kind of collective memoir that makes for fascinating and rewarding reading--one of the most vivid and diverse portraits of Native American culture available today.

Author Biography

Arnold Krupat is the author of several books, including The Turn to the Native: Studies in Criticism & Culture and the novel Woodsmen, or Thoreau and the Indians. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College.

Brian Swann has published a number of collections of poetry and fiction, including Wearing the Morning Star: Native American Song-Poems and Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America. He teaches at the Cooper Union in New York City.