<html><body><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT size=3><STRONG><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Sherman J. Alexie, Jr.</SPAN></STRONG><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, a<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian who grew up on the <A href="http://www.spokanetribe.com/" target=_blank><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Spokane Indian Reservation</SPAN></A> in Wellpinit, WA, will<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> </I>preside at <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Cleveland Public Library’s Writers and Readers Series </B>on <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Sunday,</B></SPAN><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">November 18, 2:00 p.m. Free and open to the public</SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, the event will take place at the <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Main Library, Louis Stokes Wing Auditorium, E. 6<SUP>th</SUP> Street and Superior Avenue.</B></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT size=3>Alexie draws heavily upon his life and experiences for both his writing and his lectures, including the despair, poverty and alcoholism that often pervade the lives of Native Americans living on reservations. He learned to read by age three, and devoured novels, such as John Steinbeck's <I>The Grapes of Wrath</I>, by age five. <SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT size=3>After graduating from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Washington</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> with a BA in American Studies, he received the Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship in 1991 and the National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship in 1992. When Alexie’s first collection of stories and poems, <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Business of Fancydancing,</I> was published in 1992, <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The New York Times</I> hailed him as one of the major lyric voices of our time. In 1997, Alexie and a colleague collaborated on a film project inspired by Alexie's work. Released as </FONT><A href="http://www.fallsapart.com/smoke.html"><I><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><FONT size=3>Smoke Signals</FONT></SPAN></I></A><FONT size=3> at the </FONT><A href="http://www.sundanceonlinefilmfestival.org/" target=_new><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><FONT size=3>Sundance Film Festival</FONT></SPAN></A><FONT size=3> in 1998, the movie won two awards, the Audience Award and the Filmmakers Trophy.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT size=3>Alexie has written four novels, eight volumes of poetry and three collections of stories as well as several radio scripts and screenplays. He has published two books in 2007, <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Flight</I> <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>and <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,</I> his first young adult novel. It is his sense of humor and his exuberance that make him one of the most popular speakers on the lecture circuit. For more information, visit<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"> <A href="http://www.cpl.org/"><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">www.cpl.org</SPAN></A> </B>or<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"> </B>call<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"> (216) 623-2800. <o:p></o:p></B></FONT></SPAN></P></body></html>