Prairie Schooner Native American issue launch Jan. 28-29 features Sherman Alexie

Acclaimed author Sherman Alexie will be the featured author at the launch event of Prairie Schooner, the international literary journal based out of the University of Nebraska, as it celebrates the release of its Winter 2012 issue. Alexie guest edited a portfolio of poetry and prose by contemporary Native American authors in the issue. The event will take place in the second-floor auditorium of the City Campus Union at 7 p.m. on Jan. 28 and 29, 2013.

The two-day event is free and open to the public. On the first evening, during which Alexie will not be in attendance, Prairie Schooner will host a screening of Smoke Signals, a film written and co-produced by Alexie. Smoke Signals won the Audience Award and Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. On the second evening, Alexie will read from his creative work, which will be followed by an on-stage interview with Kwame Dawes, Prairie Schooner Editor-in-Chief, and a book signing.

Dawes says of the event, “Alexie represents one of a select group of writers whose fame is matched by their brilliance as writers. To have him visit UNL is simply exciting, and especially so for Prairie Schooner because of his role as guest editor for our special Native American portfolio issue.”

The launch event has been made possible through funding from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Sciences, the Institute for Ethnic Studies, the Native American Studies program, and the English and History departments. It is a major feature of Prairie Schooner’s annual program of events, held each year to celebrate an internationally-themed winter issue.

Alexie’s most recent books are War Dances (Grove Press), stories and poems, and Face (Hanging Loose Press), a book of poems. He is the winner of the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award, the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the 2001 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, and a Special Citation for the 1994 PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Fiction.

Make sure to stay tuned to Prairie Schooner’s website, blog, Facebook, and Twitter for further announcements about the launch event for its Native American issue.

More details at: http://go.unl.edu/rdp