Backward to Forward

American Book Award winner Maurice Kenny, a major voice in Native American literature, has long been known for his poetry. A true storyteller in the native tradition, he has in recent years turned his voice to prose, both fiction and non-fiction. In this diverse collection he writes of such little-known and controversial issues as the gay tradition in Native American history and looks at how his Mohawk background has impacted his own life and writing. The first section of the book shows us what is seldom found in books: history from a Native American vantage point. In the book's second part, Kenny delves into how Native Americans have fared in literature through the years, both as subjects and as authors. Beginning with an essay on the importance of the Native American oral tradition and of cultural roots, the section ends with Kenny's reverent hymn to his own roots and to the homeland to which he returned after years as a Mohawk poet on the road.