David Treuer
Encyclopedia
David Treuer is a writer of Ojibwe and Jewish descent. He was born in Washington, D.C. and raised on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation
in northern Minnesota. He attended Princeton University and was graduated in 1992 after writing two senior theses, one in the anthropology department and one in the Princeton Program in Creative Writing. While at Princeton he studied with Joanna Scott and Paul Muldoon
and his thesis advisor was the Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison
.
His first novel, Little, was published in 1995, and his second, The Hiawatha, followed in 1999. In the fall of 2006 he published a third, The Translation of Dr Apelles, and a book of essays entitled Native American Fiction: A User's Manual. This book was controversial because of it urged readers to see the genre of Native American Fiction as inextricably linked to many other literatures in English and not so much derived from "Native American cultures." He argues that Native American literature should be read as "constructed" rather than "found"; as "making" rather than "representing" meaning.
He is currently working with his brother Anton on a grammar of the Ojibwe language
. The preservation of Indian languages is a key concern, and he has complained that "it's not clear why so many Indian critics and novelists suggest that stories, even great ones, in English by writers whose only language is English are somehow 'Indian stories' that store the kernels of culture."
. The Translation of Dr Apelles was named a "Best Book for 2006" by the Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Time Out Chicago, and City Pages.
Leech Lake Indian Reservation
The Leech Lake Indian Reservation or Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag in the Ojibwe language, is an Native American reservation located in the north-central Minnesota counties of Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard. It is the land-base for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe...
in northern Minnesota. He attended Princeton University and was graduated in 1992 after writing two senior theses, one in the anthropology department and one in the Princeton Program in Creative Writing. While at Princeton he studied with Joanna Scott and Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon is an Irish poet. He has published over thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. He held the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1999 - 2004. At Princeton University he is both the Howard G. B. Clark ’21 Professor in the Humanities and...
and his thesis advisor was the Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
.
His first novel, Little, was published in 1995, and his second, The Hiawatha, followed in 1999. In the fall of 2006 he published a third, The Translation of Dr Apelles, and a book of essays entitled Native American Fiction: A User's Manual. This book was controversial because of it urged readers to see the genre of Native American Fiction as inextricably linked to many other literatures in English and not so much derived from "Native American cultures." He argues that Native American literature should be read as "constructed" rather than "found"; as "making" rather than "representing" meaning.
He is currently working with his brother Anton on a grammar of the Ojibwe language
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
. The preservation of Indian languages is a key concern, and he has complained that "it's not clear why so many Indian critics and novelists suggest that stories, even great ones, in English by writers whose only language is English are somehow 'Indian stories' that store the kernels of culture."
Awards
He is the recipient of an NEH Fellowship and a Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
. The Translation of Dr Apelles was named a "Best Book for 2006" by the Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Time Out Chicago, and City Pages.
External links
- David Treuer's Website
- Minnesota Public Radio Talking Volumes Interview
- LA Times Essay -- "A Language Too Beautiful to Lose"