‘Fantastic storyteller’ to speak in Kiva

Nicole Stempak

Sherman Alexie will speak to students tonight as the Fall 2007 Guest of Honor University Artist/Lecture Series.

Alexie is nominated for the National Book Foundation’s Young People’s Literature award for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and will speak about his experiences growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington.

“We first scheduled him in 2000, but he was not able to come,” said Deborah Sell Craig, coordinator of recruitment and scholarships in the Honors College. She “jumped at the chance” this time.

Alexie will be signing books at the University Bookstore in the Kent Student Center at 5 p.m. The lecture, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Kiva, is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in Room 204 of the Student Center at 9 p.m.

Craig said she is eager for Alexie to come because he speaks about issues of identity, and he is a “fantastic storyteller.”

The lecture series is coordinated by the Honors College.

– Nicole Stempak