My Cheii’s (grandpa’s) truck coming up the dirt road. A big old cloud of dust behind him. My Cheii’s (grandpa’s) truck, A BIG RED TRUCK! BIG knobby tires, BIG white mirrors, With a flat bed and stack rack. Grumble, …
A Pulitzer Prize finalist, New York Times bestselling author, and tribal college graduate, Tommy Orange presents his top picks from the 2020 creative writing contest.
“Within this cage, the killing of her spirit was daily from being forced to speak a language that was not her own and to learn of a culture she was not born into.”
“In languages, we encapsulate the individual and communal mental and spiritual contemplative efforts of a people—each unique.”
“The Warriors versus the Cowgirls, too fantastic to be made up, and the mascots couldn’t be more fitting.”
“beneath umbrellas of drooping purple petals, sticks with triangular heads hold curved handles, thin membranes stretch for tiny legs to back—stroke . . .”
“Shí’ee’ ’éí łeezh bee łíbá sílį́į́’ lá. My clothes became adorned with dust and dirt. ’Áko t’óó nízhónígo shí ’éé’ bík’ídíídláád. The Sun ribbons beautifully adorned my clothes.”
“It wasn’t just the coma. I couldn’t feel her spirit in the room with us. I knew she was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.”
