Tim Tingle is a member of the

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw language, Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Indian reservation, Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation ...

an author and storyteller of twenty books.

Early life

Tingle was raised on the Gulf Coast outside of

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He is an Oklahoma Choctaw. His great-great grandfather, John Carnes, walked the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

in 1835, and his paternal grandmother attended Native American boarding schools in the early 1900s. In order to preserve the legacy of the Choctaw culture, Tim's family shared stories of their heritage and the struggles that Native Americans face.

Education

Tingle received a bachelor's degree in English from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, and he received his master's degree in English Literature (with a focus in Native American Studies) from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

in 2003.

Career

Tingle is a featured storyteller at festivals across the nation, after getting his start telling stories when he visited the school his son attended. He frequently performs at the Texas Storytelling Festival, most recently in March, 2018. In 2002, he was featured at the National Storytelling Festival. In June 2011, Tim spoke at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. In 2014, Tim was featured author and speaker at the

National Book Festival The National Book Festival is an annual literary festival held in Washington, D.C. in the United States; it is organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, and was founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 19 ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Tingle has also travelled to Germany to complete over ten speaking tours on behalf of the

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

, teaching children and military personnel about his experience as a Choctaw Native American. Tingle was a speaker at the Native American wing of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in 2006 and 2007. Tingle's first book, ''Walking the Choctaw Road'', was recognized by Storytelling World Magazine as the Best Anthology of 2003. He has won awards for many of his other books for youth. ''Flying Lessons'', the anthology of stories edited by Ellen Oh for the

We Need Diverse Books We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is a nonprofit organization created to promote diversity of multiple forms in American children's literature and publishing, which grew out of the Twitter hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks in 2014. The organization's progr ...

movement includes a piece by Tingle.

Selected works

Anthologies and short stories

* ''Walking the Choctaw Road'' (Cinco Puntos Press, 2003) * ''Texas Ghost Stories'' (Texas Tech University Press, 2004) * ''Spooky Texas Tales'' (Texas Tech University Press, 2005) * ''Spirits Dark and Light: Supernatural Tales from the Five Civilized Tribes'' (August House Publishers, 2006) * ''More Spooky Texas Tales'' (Texas Tech University Press, 2010) * ''Flying Lessons and Other Stories'' (Crown Books for Young Readers, 2017)

Standalone stories

* ''Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom'' (Cinco Puntos Press, 2008) * ''Saltypie'' (Cinco Puntos Press, 2010) * ''When Turtle Grew Feathers'' (August House Publishers, 2013) * ''House of Purple Cedar'' (Cinco Puntos Press, 2014) * ''How I Became a Ghost'' (Roadrunner Press, 2015) * ''When a Ghost Talks, Listen'' (Roadrunner Press, 2018) * ''Stone River Crossing'' (Tu Books, 2019)

Blackgoat series

* ''Danny Blackgoat, Navajo Prisoner'' (7th Generation Publishers, 2013) * ''Danny Blackgoat, Rugged Road to Freedom'' (7th Generation Publishers, 2014)

No Name series

* ''No Name'' (7th Generation, 2014) * ''No More No Name'' (7th Generation, 2017) * ''A Name Earned'' (7th Generation, 2018) * ''Trust Your Name'' (7th Generation, 2018) * ''Name Your Mountain'' (7th Generation, 2020)

Honors and awards

* 2018 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award * ''Spirits Dark and Light: Supernatural Tales from the Five Civilized Tribes'' — 2006 IndieFab Award, Popular Culture (third place) * ''Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom'' — 2007 American Library Association - Notable Children's Book (winner) * ''How I Became a Ghost'' — 2013 American Indian Youth Literature Award - Middle School (winner); 2014 American Indian Youth Literature Award - Middle School (winner) * ''House of Purple Cedar'' — 2016 American Indian Youth Literature Award - Young Adult (winner) * ''Danny Blackgoat, Navajo Prisoner'' — 2013 American Indian Youth Literature Award - Middle School (Honor Book); 2014 American Indian Youth Literature Award - Middle School (Honor Book); 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award - Multicultural Fiction Young Adult (bronze medal winner)

References

External links

Tim Tingle Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tingle, Tim Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American short story writers Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma people 21st-century Native American writers Choctaw male writers Choctaw writers University of Texas at Austin alumni University of Oklahoma alumni