Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie (Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr.) was born on October 7th, 1966 and is currently 59 years old. Sherman Alexie was born in Spokane, Washington, USA.

Sherman Alexie is best known as an American novelist, short story writer, filmmaker, and poet who primarily focuses on the lives of Native Americans. For his work, he has gained an international following and won many honors and awards.

Alexie spent much of his childhood on a Native American Reservation in Spokane, Washington. His grandmother was a spiritual leader of the Spokane people and over the short time he spent with her, she had a great influence on him. Since he had health issues because of his hydrocephalus, he could not compete in physical sports and thus spent much of his time reading.

Sherman Alexie published his first work I Would Steal Horses, which was a volume of poetry in 1992. His first novel was the 1995 published Reservation Blues in which she wrote about life on the Indian reservation by focusing on a character she calls Big Mom. He would also publish a memoir in 2017 in which he chronicled the complicated relationship with his mother.

In addition to his writing, Sherman Alexie has worked in filmmaking and he was the producer and writer of the 1998 film Smoke Signals. He has also won the Native Writers’ Circle of the America Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a popular performer and speaker and has appeared on The Colbert Report among other TV programs.

Over the years, he has become known for his mordant sense of humor, quick wit, and frankness which have made him very popular.

Sherman Alexie published Reservation Blues in 1995. In this work, Alexie tells the story of Robert Johnson, a legendary bluesman long presumed dead who turns up on the Spokane Indian reservation. He teams up with musicians, misfit, and storyteller Thomas, and together, they go on a magical journey across the US.

Indian Killer is a work that Sherman Alexi published in 1996. It tells the story of a Native American killer who has been spreading terror in Seattle as he hunts, slaughters, and scalps white men. With the city paralyzed by fear, a man named John Smith emerges as the prime suspect given his vengeful madness and embitterment with his dual identity as an Indian American raised by white parents.

Alexie published what has to be one of his most popular works, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, in 2007. The work follows Arnold Spirit Jr. a young teen brought by alcoholic parents on the Indian reservation who is constantly subjected to bully and hence, he escapes by drawing cartoons.

Sherman Alexie: Awards & Accolades

Alexie's book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won the National Book Awards, Young People’s Literature, in 2007.

Sherman Alexie books have also been nominated for multiple awards, Distances was nominated for the Bram Stoker Awards, Superior Achievement in Short Fiction, in 1993. Ten Little Indians was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Best Fiction, in 2003. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Best Young Adult Literature, in 2007. Thunder Boy Jr. was nominated for the Goodreads Awards, Best Picture Books, in 2016 as well as the Kirkus Prize - Best Young Readers' Literature in 2016. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me was nominated for the Audie Award, Best Short Stories or Collections, in 2018.

Sherman Alexie: Lists & Other Mentions

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was an AbeBooks: 50 Essential Young Adult Novels Selection in 2014 and a Parade: The 75 Best Books of the Past 75 Years Selection in 2016.

Related Authors

Fans of Sherman Alexie also enjoy these authors:

1. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.
2. Stephen King, author of The Dark Tower Series.
3. Harper Lee, author of the To Kill a Mockingbird Series.
4. Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale Series.
5. Neil Gaiman, author of the American Gods Series.

Sherman Alexie: F.A.Q