{"id":851,"date":"2019-07-17T18:18:55","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/shermanalexietospeakatwestern\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:18:55","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:55","slug":"shermanalexietospeakatwestern","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/shermanalexietospeakatwestern\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 Renowned author Sherman Alexie to speak at Western"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 Author Sherman Alexie\u2019s latest work, \u201cWar Dances,\u201d has been called heartbreaking and hilarious, brazen and wise \u2014 and he has been called a rock star among writers. Those same words can be used to describe the well-known writer\u2019s life, from brain surgery as an infant, to schoolyard taunting and a brief, but memorable, battle with alcohol.<\/p>\n

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At 7 p.m. on Monday, March 14<\/strong>, Alexie will talk about his life and work at a lecture in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the Midtown campus of Western Connecticut State University, 181 White St. in Danbury. Prior to the lecture, at 5 p.m. in Warner Hall on the Midtown campus will be a screening of \u201cSmoke Signals,\u201d an independent film written by Alexie. Both the lecture and film screening are free and the public is invited. A reception and book signing will follow the presentation. The evening\u2019s events will honor the life and scholarship of the late Professor of English Dr. Steven D. Neuwirth, a specialist in Early American literature and American history who made significant contributions to the university\u2019s academic program development from the 1980s until his retirement in 2003.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSherman Alexie is a \u2018rock star\u2019 among his generation of writers for all of the right reasons,\u201d said Dr. Abbey Zink, WCSU Interim Dean, School of Arts and Sciences. \u201cHe exploded onto the literary scene by writing about what he knew best \u2013 life on the Spokane Indian Reservation \u2013 in ways that are profound, but accessible and witty, yet poignant. Students in my classes over the years have connected with his voice and his explorations of identity. He also is known as a fantastic speaker, so the Danbury area is in for a real treat.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Alexie, a Spokane\/Coeur d\u2019Alene Indian, grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation with hopes of becoming a medical doctor, a dream that was dashed after he discovered a love and talent for poetry at Washington State University. In 1991, the prolific writer received the Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship and a year later was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship. \u201cWar Dances\u201d won the 2010 PEN\/Faulkner Award for Fiction.<\/p>\n


\n For more information, call (203) 837-8486 or visit www.wcsu.edu.

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Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England\u2019s best small private universities.
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DANBURY, CONN. \u2014 Author Sherman Alexie\u2019s latest work, \u201cWar Dances,\u201d has been called heartbreaking and hilarious, brazen and wise \u2014 and he has been called a rock star among writers. Those same words can be used …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-851","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}