On Indigenous authors and a shift in literary representation

‘Growing up, I didn’t like reading but I loved storytelling.’

Last month Morgan Talty picked up yet another major prize for his debut story collection “Night of the Living Rez,” when he won the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize. Talty’s collection of 12 stories about life on the Penobscot Indian Nation Reservation in Maine was previously named a Best Book of 2022 by The New York Times and NPR, among others. On top of the professional accolades, Talty, who grew up on the reservation, recently became a new father and an assistant professor in the English department of the University of Maine, Orono.

BOOKS: What have you been reading?

TALTY: My reading has been largely focused on what we are reading in class. Recently for one of my courses, we read Colson Whitehead’s novel “The Nickel Boys,” which was a reread for me. My class loved it. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t loved that book.

BOOKS: Do you have time to read on your own during the school year? TALTY: This year I’m teaching two new courses so that has slowed my reading down, but I have been diving into a lot of Native fiction because I’m also developing courses on Indigenous writing. I’ve been going through my bookshelves and picking out what I consider to be really good Indigenous fiction and nonfiction.

BOOKS: What are some examples of that?

TALTY: Brandon Hobson’s “Where the Dead Sit Talking.” Tommy Orange’s “There There.” Bojan Lewis’s story collection “Sinking Bell,” which is fantastic. And then Eden Robinson, a Canadian writer, who wrote “Monkey Beach.” Richard Van Camp’s novella called “The Lesser Blessed,” is my favorite book of all time. It’s so dark and gritty and full

of so much heart. I reread that every year and gift it to people all the time.

BOOKS: When did you first read fiction by Indigenous authors?

TALTY: I read some in high school because every class would slap a book by a marginalized writer on the syllabus just to have one there. I think my first was Sherman Alexie’s “[The] Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.” That was my introduction to Indigenous fiction. There wasn’t much else beyond the big writers like Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Joy

Harjo. Then when I was 20, I began to find other books. I took a summer course at Vassar College, and the TA there gave me “The Lesser Blessed.” Then I found Eden Robinson and all the writers that were hidden in the corners of this market.

BOOKS: Does it seem that more Indigenous writers are published now? TALTY: Yes. I think that Tommy Orange’s book changed the attitude as to what to expect from Indigenous fiction. The literary critic Louis Owens said non-Native readers of Indigenous fiction come to the page expecting a comfortable tour of Indian country. I feel like we have at last moved away from that. Now there are Indigenous stories that aren’t about Indian country but are more about specific tribes, which is what we need considering there are more than 500 federally recognized tribes.

BOOKS: What other genres do you read by Indigenous writers?

TALTY: I love Natalie Diaz’s work. I could read her poetry all day. Tommy Pico’s work is really sharp and poignant. It’s not flowery poetry. For nonfiction, there’s always been David Treuer, who wrote “The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee.” There’s also “In the Courts of the Conquerors: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided” by Walter Echo-Hawk. He writes about 10 bad Supreme Court rulings. There’s a plethora of cases behind them. It could have been the top 100 worst cases.

BOOKS: When did you become an avid reader?

TALTY: Growing up, I didn’t like reading but I loved storytelling. Through middle school and high school, I had a lot of things happening at home that impeded my ability to do well in school. I graduated high school with the help of so many people and then went to

Eastern Maine Community College because I didn’t get accepted anywhere else. I was on my own for the first time. I finally started reading and I was like, “Oh my God, my passion for storytelling exists in a different medium.” The first stuff I dove into was the Beats: Kerouac, Burroughs, and Ginsberg. I remember devouring “On the Road” and “The Dharma Bums.” I was about 19. I haven’t stopped reading since.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter @GlobeBiblio. Amy Sutherland is the author, most recently, of “Rescuing Penny Jane” and she can be reached at amysutherland @mac.com.