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Native American Authors Project
Louis Owens
, 1948-2002
Louis Owens was born in Lompoc, California of Choctaw, Cherokee and Irish American heritage. He grew up in Mississippi and California, and worked as a forest ranger and firefighter for the Forest Service. He received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of California and his Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of California, Davis. His career as an educator includes Fulbright lecturer in American literature at the University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; Professor of English at University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Professor of Literature at University of California, Santa Cruz, and Professor of English, Native American Studies, and Director of the Creative Writing program at the University of California, Davis. He was also a member of several Native American Literary committees.
Awards and Honors
National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, 1989.
Roman Noir Prize for Outstanding Mystery Novel, 1995 (for The Sharpest Sight)
The American Book Award, 1997 (for Nightland)
Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year (Prose - Personal and Critical Essays) award, 1998 (for Mixblood Messages.)
Online resources by or about Louis Owens:
Finding Gene
Author: Louis Owens
Type: etext
Description: An essay by Louis Owens published in the Winter 1999 edition of the scholarly journal Weber Studies: Voices and viewpoints of the Contemporary West, which was also guest edited by Owens. Includes a photo of Owens.
URL: http://weberstudies.weber.edu/archive/archive%20B%20Vol.%2011-16.1/Vol.%2016.2/louisowens.html
Louis Owens
Author: Storytellers Native American Authors Online
Type: authorbio
Description: Includes a biographical sketch along with an extensive list of Owens' awards, essays, books, and interviews.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/Owens/
Louis Owens: Literary Reflections on His Life and Work
Author: Jacquelyn Kilpatrick
Type: bookreview
Description: published 2004
p 320 9.7" x 5.8" x 0.8" 2 b&w illus. 0-8061-3587-5
URL: http://www.oupress.com/bookdetail.asp?isbn=0-8061-3587-5
In Memorium
Author: UC Davis News Service
Type: etext
Description: An extensive obituary created my UC Davis News Service in honor of the departed Louis Owens.
URL: http://www.ucsc.edu/currents/02-03/08-05/inmemoriam.html
Suicide/The Aftermath
Author: Glen Martin
Type: etext
Description: San Francisco Chronicle writer, Owens' childhood friend, reflects on Owens' life and describes the author near the end of his life.
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/06/LV55853.DTL
Books by Louis Owens:
Owens, Louis. American Indian Novelists : An Annotated Critical Bibliography
New York : Garland, 1985.
Genre: Nonfiction
Description: Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, Vol 384. With Tom Colonnese.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 082409199X
Owens, Louis. American Literary Scholarship : An Annual, 1990
1990.
Genre: Reference
Language: English
Description: Edited by Louis Owens.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0822312344
Owens, Louis. Bone Game : A Novel
Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
Genre: Fiction
Description: Murder mystery haunted by ghosts and spirits of the past. Volume 10 of the American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series. 256 p. : 5x8 in.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0806128410
Owens, Louis. Dark River : A Novel
Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.
Genre: Fiction
Language: English
Description: 286 p. ; 22 cm. American Indian literature and critical studies series ; v. 30
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0806131152
Owens, Louis. The Grapes of Wrath : Trouble in the Promised Land
1989.
Genre: Nonfiction
Description: Twayne's Masterwork Studies, No 27.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0805780475
Owens, Louis. I Hear the Train: Reflections, inventions, Refractions
Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.
Genre: Fiction
Description: 256 p. ; Louis Owens' last published work combines his mixed blood background into this collection of essays and stories.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0806133546
Owens, Louis. John Steinbeck's Re-Vision of America
1985.
Genre: Nonfiction
ISBN: 087030736X
Owens, Louis. Mixedblood Messages : Literature, Film, Family, Place
Univ of Oklahoma Pr, 1998.
Genre: Essays
Language: English
Description: 288 p. American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, Vol 26.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0806130512
Owens, Louis. Nightland
Dutton, 1996.
Genre: Fiction
Description: 217 p. Mystery set in New Mexico.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0525940731
Owens, Louis. Other Destinies : Understanding the American Indian Novel
Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.
Genre: Essays
Description: 291 p. Includes index, bibliography, references, notes. American Indian Literature and Critical Studies, Vol 3. Contains analyses of the writings of Mourning Dove, D'Arcy McNickle, Natchee Scott Momaday, James Welch, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris, and others.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0806124237
Owens, Louis. The Sharpest Sight : A Novel
Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.
Genre: Fiction
Description: American Indian Literature and Critical Studies, Vol. 1. Novel. A Choctaw/Cherokee/Irish Vietnam veteran is murdered, and family and friends are drawn into the mystery.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0806125748
Owens, Louis. Wolfsong
Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.
Genre: Fiction
Description: American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, Vol 17. Novel about mining in the wilderness areas of the North Cascades.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0806127376
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