From Publishers Weekly
Interviewed in 1985 by Coltelli, professor of American literature at the University of Pisa, Italy, 11 Native American novelists and poets articulately and feelingly here talk about their development as individuals and as writers, their relationships with the landscape and with tribal culture, and the importance of oral tradition. Despite their differences, all--including M. Scott Momaday, Leslie Silko, Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich--focus on peculiarities inherent in their literature and its multiethnic nature, the centrality of mixed-blood Indian characters in their works, and the interpretation of Native American culture by anthropologists and non-Indian critics. Photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Since N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize, Native American writing has emerged as a distinct and persistent voice in American literature. Coltelli here collects interviews she held in 1985 with 11 contemporary American Indian writers, some familiar (Momaday, Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris) and others encountered for the first time. With each, Coltelli explores the oral and written tradition, the place of humor in Indian literature, and non-Indian critics, as well as the personal creative process. What results is a fascinating look into the minds of some of our best, albeit largely ignored, creative artists that makes for fine reading on several levels: biography, history, literature, and mythology. Included are brief biographical sketches, selected bibliographies, and all-too-scant samples of writing to whet the imagination. An excellent introduction to the creative genius of contemporary Native American artists.- Richard Chur chill, Univ. of BaltimoreCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Winged Words Laura Coltelli interviews some of America's foremost Indian poets and novelists, including Paula Gunn Allen, Michael Dorris, Louise Erdrich, and others. They candidly discuss the debt to old and the creation of new traditions, the proprieties of age and gender, and the relations between Indian writers and non-Indian readers and critics, and between writers and anthropologists and historians.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Interviewed in 1985 by Coltelli, professor of American Literature at the University of Pisa, Italy, 11 Native American novelists and poets--including Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris--articulatelty discuss their development as individuals and as writers. Photos. (Aug.)

Library Journal