Page 8
June 19, 2019
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Native Author for
Everybody Reads
Next January, Multnomah Coun-
ty Library will launch Everybody
Reads 2020, the library’s 18th an-
nual community reading project,
with Tommy Orange and his debut
novel, There There.
There There offers a series of
gripping portraits and perspectives
of Native people in urban Amer-
ica, told from the perspectives of
12 characters traveling to Oakland,
Calif. for a powwow, each of them
contending with issues of identity,
memory and belonging.
Orange’s debut novel has been
greeted with praise from critics and
readers alike. There There was se-
lected as a 2019 Pulitzer Prize Fi-
nalist in Fiction and was honored as
one of the 10 Best Books of 2018 by
the editors of The New York Times
Book Review.
Everybody Reads 2020 provides
an opportunity to explore the expe-
riences and perspectives around the
Native experience in urban settings.
photo by
l arry D. M oore
Tommy Orange
The library is working with the Na-
tive community to center events and
discussions around Native voices,
organizations and movements. The
library will distribute thousands of
copies through libraries and high
schools across Multnomah County
early next year as part of the project.
Orange is a graduate of the MFA
program at Institute of American In-
dian Arts; enrolled member of Chey-
enne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklaho-
ma; grew up in Oakland, Calif.