In Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange traces one Native American family’s story from the Sand Creek Massacre through generations of survival, exploring inherited trauma, institutional violence, and the resilience of Indigenous communities.
Moderated by writer Daniel Levin Becker, the discussion examines the relationship between history and fiction, the power of polyphonic storytelling, afterlives of ritual objects in European museums, and how literature can reclaim stories long erased from the American narrative.
This event is in partnership with Festival America.
About the speakers:
Tommy Orange is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel There There, a multi-generational, relentlessly paced story about a side of America few of us have ever seen: the lives of urban Native Americans. There There was one of the New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year, and won the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and the Pen/Hemingway Award. There There was also longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His most recent novel, Wandering Stars, was published in February 2024. Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. He was born and raised in Oakland, California.
Daniel Levin Becker is the author of Many Subtle Channels and What’s Good. His translations from the French include books by, among others, Georges Perec, Laurent Mauvignier, Jakuta Alikavazovic, and Éric Chevillard. He is co-founder of the small press Fern Books and the only living American member of the Oulipo.
