With Tiffany Midge, Jake Skeets, and Elissa Washuta. Moderated by D.A. Navoti.
Why is there no Native woman David Sedaris? Or Native Anne Lamott? Humor categories in publishing are packed with books by funny women and humorous sociocultural-political commentary—but no Native women. There are presumably more important concerns in Indian Country. More important than humor? Among the Diné/Navajo, a ceremony is held in honor of a baby’s first laugh.
Winner of the Kenyon Review Earthworks Prize for Indigenous Poetry, Tiffany Midge deftly weaves Plains Indian myths into the present day and seeks to define love, the nature of desire, and identity in the twenty-first century. The book includes a series of poems, each titled "Considering Wakantanka," that connect the themes throughout the book.
Winner of the 2021 Kate Tufts Discovery Award
Winner of a 2020 Whiting Award in Poetry
Finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award in Gay Poetry
Finalist for the PEN Open Book Award
Longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Award
A TIME, NPR, New York Public Library, Lit Hub, Book Riot, and Entropy Best Book of the Year
As Elissa Washuta makes the transition from college kid to independent adult, she finds herself overwhelmed by the calamities piling up in her brain. When her mood-stabilizing medications aren’t threatening her life, they’re shoving her from depression to mania and back in the space of an hour.