Sherman Alexie

Northwest

author and

speaker.

Wrote script

for Smoke

Signals

Early years

Born October 1966

A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene

Indian

Grew up on the Spokane

Indian Reservation

Challenges

Born hydrocephalic (water on the brain)

Underwent a brain operation at the age of 6 months

Was not expected to survive.

Challenges

Doctors predicted he would live with severe mental retardation

Severe side effects (seizures and bed-wetting) throughout his childhood.

Challenges

Alexie was a loner

in his early years.

He was teased by

some of his

classmates in

elementary school.

Victories

Education

Reardan High

School

“The only

Indian...except

for the school

mascot."

Education

Excellent

student

academically

A star player

on the

basketball

team.

Education

After two years at Gonzaga,

he transferred to Washington

State University

Awards

Washington State Arts

Commission Poetry

Fellowship in 1991

National Endowment for

the Arts Poetry

Fellowship in 1992.

Works

First collection of

short stories, The

Lone Ranger and

Tonto Fistfight in

Heaven,

published in

1993.

Novels

Reservation Blues, Indian Killer, Toughest Indian in the World

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indianpublished in 2007

Screenplay

Screenplay

for Smoke

Signals

Awards at the

1998

Sundance

Film Festival

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Subject matter for works

Alexie writes of the

struggles and

challenges of

alcoholism, family,

and identity.

He writes poems,

short stories and

novels.

Some of his works

are controversial.

Life today

Lives in Seattle

with wife and

two sons

Popular speaker

and stand-up

comedian

Life today

Still battles insomnia

Writes when he can’t

sleep

You might find him at

the IHOP in the “U”

district writing at 3 in

the morning

Sherman Alexie Biography Outline(Rough Draft Due Friday)

Topic sentence (a general statement that tells

the reader what the paragraph is about).

Biographical information – Childhood years

– Education

– Challenges

– Victories

Literature and legacy– Published works

– Subject matter for works

– Awards and honors

Life today– Where he lives today

– What he’s active doing today