Adrian C. Louis (April 24, 1946 – September 9, 2018)Adrian C. Louis
/ref> was an American author. Hailing from

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, Louis was a member of Lovelock Paiute tribe who lived on the

Pine Ridge Reservation The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( lkt, Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. He has taught at Oglala Lakota College. His novel ''Skins'' (1995) discusses reservation life and issues such as poverty, alcoholism, and social problems and was the basis for the 2002 film, ''Skins''. He also published books of poetry and a collection of short stories, ''Wild Indians and Other Creatures'' (1996). His work was noted for its realism. He died on September 9, 2018.

Biography

Born in

Lovelock, Nevada Lovelock is the county seat of Pershing County, Nevada, United States, in which it is the only incorporated city. It is the namesake of a nearby medium-security men's prison and a Cold War-era gunnery range. Formerly a stop for settlers on th ...

in 1946, Louis was the eldest of twelve children. Of mixed heritage, Louis was of Lovelock Paiute descent. In 1963 his first poem was published when he was a junior in high school. He moved from Nevada to South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation. Louis graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor's and MA in Creative Writing. Louis worked as a journalist and was the editor of several newspapers, some of them tribal. In 1982, he became editor of ''Talking Leaf'', a Los-Angeles-based Indian Newspaper. Later in the 1980s, he was publisher and managing editor of the ''Lakota Times'' (later renamed ''

Indian Country Today ''ICT News'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a daily digital news platform that covers the Indigenous world, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and First Nations. It was founded in 1981 as a weekly print newspaper, ''The ...

''). He was a co-founder of the

Native American Journalists Association The Native American Journalists Association, based in Norman, Oklahoma, on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is an organization dedicated to supporting Native Americans in journalism. The organization hosts the annual National Native Media ...

. Louis has ten published books of poetry and two novels. His poetry and fiction have garnered him much recognition and awards. His work has been praised by notable Native

American writer American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

s, including

Sherman Alexie Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Spokane- Coeur d'Alene-Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His writings draw on his experiences as an Indigenous American with ancestry from se ...

N. Scott Momaday Navarre Scott Momaday (born February 27, 1934) is a Kiowa novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel '' House Made of Dawn'' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, and is considered the first major work of the Native ...

, James Welch and

Leslie Marmon Silko Leslie Marmon Silko (born Leslie Marmon; born March 5, 1948) is an American writer. A Laguna Pueblo Indian woman, she is one of the key figures in the First Wave of what literary critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissanc ...

. In 1999, he was added to the Nevada Writer's Hall of Fame. In 2001 he was awarded the Writer of the Year by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers and the Cohen Award for best published poem in ''Ploughshares''. He is also the recipient of the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors ar ...

as well as fellowships from the Bush Foundation, the South Dakota Arts Council, the Nebraska Arts Council, the

National Endowment of the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and the Lila Wallace–Reader's Digest Foundation. Louis taught English at Pine Ridge's Oglala Lakota College from 1984 to 1997; from 1999 to 2014, he taught in the Minnesota State University systems.adrian-c-louis.com

Bibliography

Poetry

* The Indian Cheap Wine Seance (1974, Grey Flannel Press) * Muted War Drums (1977, Blue Cloud Quarterly) * Sweets for the Dancing Bears (1979, Blue Cloud Quarterly) * Fire Water World (1989, West End Press) * Among the Dog Eaters (1992, West End Press) * Blood Thirsty Savages] (1994, Time Being Books) * Days of Obsidian, Days of Grace: Selected Poetry and Prose by Four Native American Writers (1994. Bookman) * Vortex of Indian Fevers (1995,

TriQuarterly Books ''TriQuarterly'' is a name shared by an American literary magazine and a series of books, both operating under the aegis of Northwestern University Press. The journal is published twice a year and features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, lite ...

) * Ceremonies of the Damned (1997,

University of Nevada Press University of Nevada Press is a university press that is run by the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). Its authority is derived from the Nevada state legislature and Board of Regents of the NSHE. It was founded by Robert Laxalt in 1961. T ...

) * Skull Dance (1998, Bull Thistle) * Ancient Acid Flashes Back (2000,

) * Bones & Juice (2001,

) * Evil Corn (2004, Ellis Press) * Deer Dreams (2006, Red Dragonfly Press) * Logorrhea (2006,

) * Savage Sunsets (2012, West End Press) * Random Exorcisms (2016,

LSU Press The Louisiana State University Press (LSU Press) is a university press at Louisiana State University. Founded in 1935, it publishes works of scholarship as well as general interest books. LSU Press is a member of the Association of American Uni ...

) * The Bible of Adrian (2017, Bullhead Books) * Electric Snakes (2018, The Backwaters Press/

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Uni ...

)

Prose

* ''Skins'' (1995, Crown) * ''Wild Indians & Other Creatures'' (1996,

)

Filmography

* '' Skins'' (2002) - screenplay

References