David Treuer—Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey through Reservation Life The Provost’s Writers Series
Visions and Voices
Summary:
David Treuer, a professor of English in USC Dornsife and Ojibwe Indian from Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota, will discuss his most recent book, Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey through Reservation Life.
Description:
David Treuer, a professor of English in USC Dornsife, is an Ojibwe Indian from Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. He is the author of three novels and a collection of essays. He will give a presentation on his most recent book, Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey through Reservation Life. In this powerful and illuminating book, Treuer brings his skill for storytelling and an eye for detail to a complex and subtle examination of Native American reservation life, past and present. USC Provost Elizabeth Garrett will introduce the evening, followed by a conversation with Treuer moderated by Peter C. Mancall, the academic domain vice dean of USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
David Treuer is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, the 1996 Minnesota Book Award and fellowships from the NEH, the Bush Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation. His essays and stories have appeared in Esquire, TriQuarterly, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Slate.com. The son of Robert Treuer, an Austrian Jew and Holocaust survivor, and Margaret Seelye Treuer, a tribal-court judge, David Treuer grew up on Leech Lake Reservation. After graduating from high school he attended Princeton University, where he wrote two senior theses—one in anthropology and one in creative writing—and where he worked with Toni Morrison, Paul Muldoon and Joanna Scott. Treuer graduated in 1992 and published his first novel, Little, in 1995. He received his PhD in anthropology and published his second novel, The Hiawatha, in 1999. His third novel, The Translation of Dr Apelles, and a book of criticism, Native American Fiction: A User’s Manual, were published in 2006. The Translation of Dr Apelles was named Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post, Time Out and City Pages.
To watch an interview with David Treuer on PBS' Tavis Smiley, click here.
Watch Treuer in the documentary The American Indian Lives Project.
The Provost’s Writers Series highlights the extraordinary talents of USC authors. The series provides opportunities for students and the community to engage with USC authors, learn about the incredible diversity of their work and celebrate the written word.
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Photo: Jean-Luc Bertini