Sherman Alexie Research Paper

Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr., born October 7, 1966 is an American poet, writer, and filmmaker. Much of his writing draws on his experience s as a Native American with ancestry from several tribes. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and now lives in Seattle, Washington. Alexie was born to Salish Indians—a Coeur d’Alene father and a Spokane mother. He suffered from congenital hydrocephalus and underwent surgery when he was six months old. Though the procedure did not affect his ability to learn, he suffered harsh side effects, including seizures, in his childhood. As a boy, he was much influenced by his maternal grandmother, a spiritual leader of the Spokane, who died when he was eight. Because of his health, he was unable to compete physically, so he became instead an avid reader. He went off the reservation to attend an all-white high school, …show more content…
He followed up with a first novel, Reservation Blues (1995) and a second, Indian Killer (1996), both award winners. In 2010, Alexie was awarded the PEN/Faulkner Award for his short story collection, War Dances.
Alexie, whose work draws mainly from his experiences as a Native American both on and off the reservation, collaborated in 1997 with Chris Eyre, a Cheyenne/Arapaho Indian filmmaker. The pair rewrote one of Alexie's short stories, "This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," into a screenplay. The resulting film, Smoke Signals, premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win several awards.
Sherman Alexie is the recipient of numerous literary and artistic awards. He was a World Poetry Bout Association champion for four consecutive years, and a guest editor of the literary journal Ploughshares; his short story "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" was selected by juror Ann Patchett as her favorite story for The O. Henry Prize Stories