Literary Birthday – 18 November – James Welch

James Welch was born 18 November 1940, and died 4 August 2003.

Five Quotes

1. I wander around, get the lay of the land and try to imagine what kind of people would have lived there in that historical period. What would they eat? What kind of clothing would they wear? How did they shelter themselves? How did they get around?
2. I wrote a lot in study hall to while away the hours.
3. I think ethnic and regional labels are insulting to writers and really put restrictions on them. People don’t think your work is quite as universal.
4. The townspeople outside the reservations had a very superior attitude toward Indians, which was kind of funny, because they weren’t very wealthy; they were on the fringes of society themselves.
5. Richard Hugo taught me that anyone with a desire to write, an ear for language and a bit of imagination could become a writer.

James Welch was an award-winning Native American novelist and poet, He is known as a founding author of the Native American Renaissance. He received several literary awards for his novel, Fools Crow.

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by Amanda Patterson

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