Leslie Marmon Silko: A Collection of Critical Essays

Editors: Louise K. Barnett and James L. Thorson

Publisher: University of New Mexico Press (2001)

With the publication of Ceremony in 1977, a strikingly original voice appeared in Native American fiction. These thirteen essays, the first collection devoted entirely to Silko's work, present new perspectives on her fiction and provide a deeper understanding of her work. From her engagement with the New Mexico landscape to her experiments with cross-cultural narratives and form to her apocalyptic vision of race relations in Almanac of the Dead, Silko has earned her place as a significant contemporary American writer.

All of Silko's important short fiction, her nonfiction essays, and her novel Almanac of the Dead are examined here. The critical approaches range from close reading to the postmodern. This collection is essential for all serious students of Silko's writings.