I wish I could say there was only one reason. But there was definitely a primary reason. The last two months have been a little rough for my family. My little sister had a major stroke. For those of you who’ve had a loved one go through this you’ll understand perfectly what I mean. It’s sudden, unexpected, and unfortunately my sister didn’t make it to the hospital in time to get the medication that would have saved her from the more severe damage. So there we were: a family in turmoil having to make major decisions regarding my sister’s life.
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“Stunning” Novel Cover: Symbolic Representations in Post-Modern Art Forms
There are two questions I love most when it comes to talking about my debut novel. One has to do with the structure, with it’s polyvocality laid atop time jumps spanning three decades, and the other has to do with the cover. It’s a striking image. An image that conveys perfectly the post-modern fracture experienced by the main character, Ever Geimausaddle, and his resilient trek through the process of decolonization.
Read More »Intro to Literary Fiction: A Native American Writer’s Reasoning Toward Episodic Novel Writing & Unfamiliar Terms in Familiar Terrain
“What do you write?” Have you heard that question before? For literary writers this question is like a grain of dirt on the ass cheek of a wild hog running through the brush in the Ozark Hills. Every time I go to answer the question I know what’s going to follow. It’s going to be another question, with a quizzical expression on the questioner’s face, asking me, “What’s literary fiction?”
Read More »Native Voices for Native Audiobook: Recording Chapters in CALLING FOR A BLANKET DANCE
I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be able to read for my debut novel. Many writers don’t get the opportunity to record for their own audiobooks. Because my novel is polyvocal and comes from the heart of tribally specific communities, Kiowa and Cherokee, I was more than happy when Algonquin Books asked me to read for the male characters in my debut. Moreover, they hired a Native actress to read for the women characters: Rainy Fields.
Read More »The Revival of Juxtaposition & the Reveal of Thematics
When we pick up any literary novel we must commit to being an active reader. We can be entertained by the surface plot and the triangulation between characters, certainly. But the purpose of literary fiction is to dive deeper into the text and search for symbols. Not only the symbols that comprise a larger thematic in a storyline, but, more importantly, the symbols that shape the really real world we walk through every day.
Read More »Highly Anticipated Debut Novel in 2022 from Native American Author
So I know it’s not cool to say “own voice writer” anymore these days, but we have to give credit to the Native writers writing from inside our own tribal communities. It doesn’t happen as often as you might think. And you know what happens even less? When a debut Native writer from inside his tribally specific and historically targeted community gets a little recognition.
Read More »Digesting Fragments as Memories: CALLING FOR A BLANKET DANCE
Let me ask you a simple question: What was a significant event in your life? Moreover, how did it impact you, change you, make you into the person you are? What I like most about this question is how it immediately takes us deep into memory. Suddenly a series of memories flood our minds and we rifle through each to determine which might be the most impactful. Now let me switch it on you. What if I asked each of your relatives about the most significant event in your life?
Read More »Gritty Conversational: A Contemporary Native American Voice to Combat Erasure
So I was sitting in a classroom at the University of Oklahoma. This was about a decade ago. I was in my master’s program and it was a special topics course on heteronormativity in American culture. We were discussing James Baldwin’s work, and the professor said, “I love Baldwin’s writing and I don’t know how he does it.” Then he looked at me. We locked eyes for a moment. I’m the only one in this MA program who has a BFA in Creative Writing. I immediately thought, I know how he does it. But before I had a chance to respond, he quickly stated, “And I don’t want to know,” as if he knew I was about to break the spell.
Read More »The Aftermath of the Final Draft: Novels
So I’m about to use this post as catharsis. I’ve done something tremendous. So momentous that it’s a little unsettling. Or maybe I’ve made it unsettling by overthinking. But I can’t help but wonder if this is a normal part of the process once a writer has submitted the final draft of her novel to an editor.
Read More »Giving Back: Murrow Indian Children’s Home Needing Assistance
I get mentally stuck sometimes, and frustrated, when I think of the disparity rates in the communities I serve. I’m Cherokee and Kiowa. I live in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and work for Indian Child Welfare. I’ve worked my entire career serving Native communities, working diligently to correct the disparity rates, and every time I see a Native person walking down the street strung out on meth, fidgeting and impulsively picking at their skin (the telltale signs of meth addiction), it breaks my heart. I get frustrated at the disparity rates among Native Americans and see first hand the negative impacts caused by historical trauma.
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Oscar Hokeah 