American Indian Literature

Discover the essential people, works, movements, and themes in American Indian literature.

American Indian literature is a varied and vibrant collection of Indigenous artistic expression. American Indian novelists, poets, essayists, and critics have over the last four centuries asserted powerful forms of intellectual and artistic sovereignty, writing in English while building on discrete tribal oral traditions and forms of storytelling.

This encyclopedia introduces readers to the key historical and contemporary figures in American Indian literature and their defining works. From the fiery sermons of Methodist minister William Apess to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday to the critically acclaimed and commercially successful novels of Louise Erdrich, this book illustrates the indelible and influential imprint American Indians have on the landscape of American letters.

Readers are also introduced to the key themes and context of American Indian literature, exploring how it is inextricable from American literary history, the American literary canon, and the narrative of American history: not on the fringes of the American experience, but central to it.