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Cuesta College Book of the Year: 2022

Cuesta's annual campus and community author event, now in its 15th year

Tommy Orange, Author of There There

photo of author tommy orange

Photo: © Elena Seibert

More Native American Authors

"40 Best Native American Authors for 2022." Discovery website 

"10 Essential Native American Novels." Publishers Weekly

American Indian Youth Literature Awards. American Indian Library Association

Cuesta Book of the Year: Author Event

Native American writer Tommy Orange, a resident of Northern California, will be at the CPAC theater on the Cuesta SLO campus on Thurs. April 21, 2022, 5-7pm for a lecture and book signing. His award-winning novel There There follows the stories of twelve characters from Native communities as they travel to the Big Oakland Powwow.

  • General Admission tickets are $5.00. Buy tickets here. (Tickets are free for students, email cuestabook@cuesta.edu to reserve.)
  • Book of the Year is an annual program of the Academic Senate of Cuesta College; 2022 is sponsored by Cuesta College Friends of the Library, County of San Luis Obispo Public Libraries, & Cal Poly Student Diversity and Belonging.

Powwows

powwow gathering

2019 Manito Ahbee Festival, Manitobab

--Powwows as depicted in There There take place throughout the US & Canada.  Find one near you.  https://calendar.powwows.com/

--Watch a Powwow: Indiana University Traditional Powwow, Virtual Ed., 2021 (83 min)

--"How Native American Powwows Evolved Over Years." Durango Herald, 2018

--Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma:

Read The Book

Paperback copies are available for check-out at both Cuesta libraries and at local public libraries.

About the Author: Interviews, Awards, Latest Work

"Ghost Danceby Tommy Orange (3 min video)

"There There Review." The Guardian, 2018

"Tommy Orange hints about upcoming sequel." Indian Country Today, 2021

'Writing out of a loneliness,' novelist explores the range of native experiences." PBS NewHour2018 (6 min video)

Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA: Land Acknowledgement

With gratitude, we acknowledge, respect, and thank the Salinan Tribe /the T‘epot’aha’l, “People of the Oaks” and yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini (ytt) the Northern Chumash People, on whose lands Cuesta College is a guest.

Discuss: Book Reviews, Discussion Ideas

"There There: Readers Guide." Penguin Random House