DATE: Thursday, November 20, 2008

TIME: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

LOCATION: UNLV Student Union Theatre

Sherman Alexie, a renowned poet, author and screenwriter whose work draws on the experiences of modern Native American life, will offer the keynote address for UNLV's celebration of Native American Heritage Month Nov. 20 at the Student Union Theatre.

Alexie, named by The New Yorker Magazine as one of the top 20 authors of the 21st century, burst on to the literary scene with 1993's "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fight in Heaven," a collection of short stories that netted both the PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Book of Fiction and a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award.

The success of the award-winning collection led Alexie in 1997 to develop a screenplay based on the work. Released as "Smoke Signals" at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998, the film was met with critical acclaim and was awarded the Filmmakers Trophy and Audience Award.

Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington, participated in the 2003 Museum of Tolerance project, "Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves." The exhibit showcased the diversity within the personal histories of several noted Americans, emphasized shared experiences common to being part of an American family, and encouraged visitors to seek out their own histories, mentors and heroes. This project was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Alexie is also an accomplished novelist. His first young adult novel, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," was released last September and has already earned praise from the Boston Globe and was named the 2007 National Book Award winner for young people's literature.

The event is sponsored by the UNLV Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Takiyah Beckett at (702) 895-3561.