Tommy Orange (Cheyenne/Arapaho) will receive the Tulsa Library Trust’s “Festival of Words Writers Award” March 6, 2021 at 10:30 a.m., during a livestream ceremony on TCCL’s Youtube channel, www.youtube.com/user/TulsaLibrary.
During the award presentation, Joy Harjo, (Muscogee Creek), will interview Orange about his life and work. Harjo was the inaugural recipient of the Festival of Words Writers Award in 2001. As an award-winning poet, author and musician, Harjo was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate in 2019, the first Native American to hold the position.
Tommy Orange, born and raised in Oakland, Cali., is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel There There, a multi-generational, relentlessly paced story about a side of America few of us have ever seen: the lives of urban Native Americans. There There was one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year, and won the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and the Pen/Hemingway Award. There There was also longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Orange graduated from the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and was a 2014 MacDowell Fellow and a 2016 Writing by Writers Fellow.
The award is presented every other year. Previous winners include: 2001, Joy Harjo (Muscogee Creek); 2003, Vine DeLoria Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux); 2005, Leslie Marmon-Silko (Laguna Pueblo); 2007, Carter Revard (Osage); 2011, LeAnne Howe (Choctaw); 2013, Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee Creek); 2015, Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki); 2017, Tim Tingle (Choctaw); and 2019, Laura Tohe (Diné, Tsénahabiłnii, Sleepy Rock People clan, and born for the Tódich’inii, Bitter Water clan).
“The virtual ceremony will feature our full recognition celebrating Tommy Orange. We will have our opening prayer, honor song and welcome introduction,” said Teresa Runnels, American Indian Resource Center Coordinator. “To have Joy Harjo return and visit with Tommy about writing will certainly be worthwhile viewing.”
Throughout March, TCCL’s American Indian Resource Center will present digital programming featuring cultural, educational and informational resources highlighting American Indian culture. Visit, https://www.tulsalibrary.org/research/american-indian-resource-center, for updates on Festival of Words programming.
Sponsors for the American Indian Festival of Words include the Tulsa Library Trust, Tulsa City-County Library’s American Indian Resource Center, The Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Foundation, Dr. Frank and Mary Shaw, and Visions and Voices.
For more information on library programming, call the AskUs Hotline, 918-549-7323, or visit the library’s website, www.tulsalibrary.org.
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