One Author, One Kirkwood
One Author, One Kirkwood is a yearly community read for the people throughout our St. Louis community. All events are free and open to the public.
October 12, 2023 at 7PM
Kirkwood Performing Arts Center
210 E Monroe Ave
Kirkwood, MO
Registration is free, but tickets are required to attend.
Funding for the One Author series of programs is provided by the Edward Chase Garvey Memorial Foundation.
Morgan Talty
Morgan Talty is a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation where he grew up. Named one of Narrative’s “30 Below 30,” Talty’s work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, TriQuarterly, Narrative Magazine, LitHub, and elsewhere. He lives in Levant, Maine.
(Bio courtesy of Tin House)
2023 PEN America Prize for Debut Short Story Collection
2022 New England Book Award Winner for Fiction
Time “The 100 Must-Read Books of 2022”
Shortlisted for the ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence for Fiction
Night of the Living Rez (2022)
Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy.
In twelve striking, luminescent stories, author Morgan Talty-with searing humor, abiding compassion, and deep insight-breathes life into tales of family and a community as they struggle with a painful past and an uncertain future. A boy unearths a jar that holds an old curse, whichsets into motion his family’s unraveling; a man, while trying to swindle some pot from a dealer, discovers a friend passed out in the woods, his hair frozen into the snow; a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s projects the past onto her grandson; and two friends, inspired by Antiques Roadshow, attempt to rob the tribal museum for valuable root clubs. A collection that examines the consequences and merits of inheritance, Night of the Living Rez is an unforgettable portrayal of an Indigenous community and marks the arrival of a standout talent in contemporary fiction.
Reviews
- Remarkable. . . . An electric, captivating voice. . . . Talty has assured himself a spot in the canon of great Native American literature. —The New York Times
- Hypnotizing. . . . friendship and family, beautifully tinted with both sadness and humor. —TIME
- A perfect mix of funny, sad, timely, and intense, this one has something for everyone. —The Boston Globe
- A blazing new talent. —Oprah Daily
- Astounding. . . . Talty is an important new writer to watch. —Esquire
- Unearths grace amid strife. . . . Talty, with his ear for natural, almost musical dialogue, compels you to keep listening. —Vulture
- These stories took me in the same way Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son did when I first read it. The comparison here is meant in every way to praise Talty as a writer, and I’m sure I won’t be the only one who says so, partially because of his emotional precision, his stark, unflinching, droll, intoxicating style, and also because of a certain drug/addiction element at play here. But as I got deeper into the work, into the book, and came to understand these lives and this community, the further away it felt from my initial comparison with Johnson, and the more familiar it felt—our Native communities being bound by countless common threads, strengths and afflictions both—and only then did I understand the distinct brilliance of Talty’s voice as its own, and ours. I knew and felt for these people. Wanted to and knew I couldn’t help them, even as they did me. There is so much brutal, raw, and beautiful power in these stories. I kept wanting to read and know more about these peoples’ lives, how they ended up where they ended up, how they would get out, how they wouldn’t. It is difficult to be so honest, and funny, and sad, at once, in any kind of work. Reading this book, I literally laughed and cried. —Tommy Orange, author of There There
- Morgan Talty’s Night of the Living Rez is a beautifully crafted, raw and intimate book about youth, friendship, and family on the reservation. These stories are profoundly moving and essential, rendered with precision and intimacy. Talty is a powerful new voice in Native American fiction. —Brandon Hobson, National Book Award finalist and author of The Removed
- Woven together with the care and intimacy of a family heirloom. —Chicago Reivew of Books
- If you only read one short story collection this year, make it Night of the Living Rez. —Book Riot
- There is so much beauty in these stories. . . . they build on themselves the way a life builds: messily, unpredictably, with love and heartache and never quite in the way you expect. —BookPage
- Ingenious. . . . Unforgettable. —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
- Talty is adept at unearthing his characters’ emotions. . . . these stories reveal the hardships facing a young Native American in contemporary America. —Kirkus, Starred Review
Other Books by Morgan Talty:
The Best American Short Stories 2021 (Fiction, 2021) Edited by Jesmyn Ward
The Best American Short Stories 2020 (Fiction, 2020) Edited by Curtis Sittenfeld
We also have a book club kit available for checkout to your book club!
Past Years’ Selections
2022 – Diana Abu-Jaber Fencing with the King and Life without a Recipe
2021 – Brit Bennett The Vanishing Half and The Mothers
2020 – Lisa See The Island of Sea Women, China Dolls, and On Gold Mountain
2019 – Chris Bohjalian The Flight Attendant, The Sandcastle Girls, and Buffalo Soldier
2018- Stephanie Powell Watts No One Is Coming to Save Us
Past Years’ Selections
2017- Ariel Lawhon Flight of Dreams
2015- Robin Sloan Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore *Skype visit
2014- Alex George A Good American
2013- Joseph Schuster The Might Have Been
2012- Timothy Schaffert The Coffins of Little Hope
