Tommy Orange

Tommy Orange was born in Oakland, California in 1982 and is a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma. Growing up, Orange’s father was a leader in the Native American Church, but Orange has said that he did not learn much about Native culture as a child. In his novels, then, Orange has said that he aims to depict characters who struggle with issues of authenticity and identity, as he did when he was younger. Orange studied sound engineering in college and started reading and writing more while working in a bookstore in San Leandro, California, after graduating. From there, he went on to receive an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of Indian Arts. In 2018, he published his first book, There There, a novel that traces an ensemble of Native characters navigating life in and around Oakland, California. The novel received widespread acclaim; it won the Pen/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Wandering Stars, Orange’s second novel, is both a prequel and sequel to There There, with several characters from There There appearing in Wandering Stars as well. Orange now teaches at the Institute of Indian Arts.