Debra Magpie Earling
Encyclopedia
Debra Cecille Magpie Earling (born August 3, 1957 Spokane, Washington
) is an Native American novelist, and short story writer.
.
She graduated from the University of Washington
magna cum laude, and from Cornell University
with a Masters in English, and Master of Fine Arts in 1992.
She teaches at University of Montana.
Her work appeared in Ploughshares, Northeast Indian Quarterly.
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
) is an Native American novelist, and short story writer.
Life
She is of the Bitterroot Salish (tribe)Bitterroot Salish (tribe)
The Bitterroot Salish are one of three tribes of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana. The Flathead Reservation is home to the Kootenai and Pend d'Oreilles tribes also.-Language:...
.
She graduated from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
magna cum laude, and from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
with a Masters in English, and Master of Fine Arts in 1992.
She teaches at University of Montana.
Her work appeared in Ploughshares, Northeast Indian Quarterly.
Awards
- 2007 Guggenheim Fellow
- 2003 American Book AwardAmerican Book AwardThe American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
- 2006 NEANational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
grant
Reviews
Debra Magpie Earling's debut novel Perma Red is something of a miracle. The University of Montana creative writing professor began writing it in 1984 and, over the years, it has been through at least nine different rewrites, trimmed from an epic-length 800 pages to a compact 288, burned to a crisp in a house fire, and rejected by publishers who loved the writing but thought the original ending too dark and brutal. Through it all, Earling persevered and the novel stands as a testament to her faith and patience.