David Treuer: The Power in the Contrarian Voice

In 2008, Studies in American Literature (SAIL) published “A Conversation with David Treuer,” the culmination of a multiyear conversation between David Treuer and me about Treuer’s approach to literature. By 2008, Treuer had published three novels, Little (1995), The Hiawatha (1999), and The Translation of Dr. Apelles (2006). Treuer’s book of critical essays, Native American Fiction: A User’s Manual (2006), published simultaneously with his third novel, generated the most buzz. User’s Manual compelled lively discussion among scholars and writers in the field of Native literature by diving headfirst into some of the fundamental debates about the field, summarized by Shari