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Native American Author To Be Focus of Community Symposium Sunday
11/11/2008
AURORA, Ill. — Aurora University will host “Who is Sherman Alexie?,” a community symposium about the celebrated Native American author, at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16.
The program is free to the public in the Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora.
Co-moderators will be Meg Bero, Schingoethe Center executive director, and Donovan Gwinner, assistant professor of English.
AU will host Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Native American poet and screenwriter, in “The Business of Fancydancing: Poems, Stories, Punch Lines, and Highly Biased Anecdotes” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration at 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora .
The public is invited. Admission is free. Reservations are required. Call (630) 844-4924 or e-mail artsandideas@aurora.edu .
Alexie’s program is part of AU's 2008-2009 Celebrating Arts and Ideas series. Sponsors are Nicor, gold sponsor; City of Aurora, Harris Aurora, Human Resource Management Systems, LLC, Old Second National Bank, and Sodexo, silver sponsors; BFC, Sikich, and Comcast bronze sponsors; and The Beacon News , media support.
Alexie was raised on the Spokane Indian reservation about 50 miles northwest of Spokane, Wash.
The author of 20 books, he adapted his book "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" into the movie "Smoke Signals." It is believed to be the first movie made by American Indians about American Indians.
“Smoke Signals” won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and Filmmaker’s Trophy in 1998 and was distributed by Miramax films.
The film also received the Christopher Award presented to works that affirm "the highest values of the human spirit."
His second movie, an adaptation of his book of poems, "The Business of Fancydancing," was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002.
In 1999, The New Yorker called Alexie one of the top writers for the 21st century.
Call (630) 844-4924 or e-mail artsandideas@aurora.edu for more information.
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