February 18, 2003 Native American Women Writers Discuss New Book at Library of Congress March 4

Press Contact: Sheryl Cannady (202) 707-6456
Public Contact: (202) 707-5221

Editors Heid E. Erdrich and Laura Tohe, along with other special guests, discuss their book "Sister Nations: Native American Women Writers on Community" (University of Minnesota Press, 2002), at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 4, at the Library of Congress in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E., in Washington, D.C.

The program is co-sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, and the Library's American Folklife Center. It is part of the Library's "Telling America's Stories" promotion theme and marks Women's History Month. A book signing will follow the program, which is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required.

"Sister Nations" is a lively anthology of fiction, prose, and poetry that celebrates the rich diversity of contemporary Native American women. It contains work from established writers along with emerging and first-time authors, including Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Diane Glancy, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, LeAnne Howe, Roberta Hill, Kimberly Blaeser, Karenne Wood, and Linda LeGarde Grover. The foreword is written by Winona LaDuke.

The program moderator will be poet and writer Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee), the president and executive director of the Morning Star Institute, a national Indian rights organization founded in 1984. The book's co-editor, Heid E. Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibway. Her collection of poetry "Fishing for Myth" (New Rivers Press, 1997) won a Minnesota Voices Award. She teaches Native American literature and creative writing at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

"Sister Nations" co-editor Laura Tohe was born and raised on the Navajo reservation. Her book "No Parole Today" (West End Press, 1999) received the Poetry of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. She is associate professor of English at Arizona State University. A third program panelist is volume contributor Karenne Wood, a member of the Monacan Indian Nation. Her first book of poems, "Markings on Earth" (University of Arizona Press, 2001), won the North American Native Authors Award for Poetry.

Established in 1989, the National Museum of the American Indian is an institution of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere. It includes the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City and the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Md. A new museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., will open in 2004. For further information, visit its Web site at www.AmericanIndian.si.edu.

The American Folklife Center was created in 1976 to preserve and present American folklife. It includes the Archive of Folk Culture, one of the largest collections of ethnographic material in the world, and the Veterans History Project, which is preserving the legacy of American war veterans. For further information, consult its Web site at www.loc.gov/folklife.

The Center for the Book was established in 1977 to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books and reading. For information about its program, publications, and forthcoming events and the activities of its affiliates in 50 states and the District of Columbia, visit its Web site at www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook.

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PR 03-025
2003-02-18
ISSN 0731-3527