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John E. Smelcer

Author profile

born

July 02, 1963 in Alaska, The United States

gender

male

website

http://johnsmelcer.com/

genre

Poetry, Nonfiction, Children's Books

About this author

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John E. Smelcer is a prolific writer and poet whose many works focus primarily on subjects related to his Native American heritage. An Ahtna Athabaskan Indian, he also serves as executive director of the Ahtna tribe's Heritage Foundation. He is, noted a biographer on the Center for the Art of Translation Web site, the only surviving reader, speaker, and writer of the native Ahtna language. A member of the faculty at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Smelcer has held visiting professorships at universities in various locations around the world. A collection of his poems, Riversongs, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

In the Shadows of Mountains: Ahtna Stories from the Copper River contains a collection of twenty-four stories from the A...more John E. Smelcer is a prolific writer and poet whose many works focus primarily on subjects related to his Native American heritage. An Ahtna Athabaskan Indian, he also serves as executive director of the Ahtna tribe's Heritage Foundation. He is, noted a biographer on the Center for the Art of Translation Web site, the only surviving reader, speaker, and writer of the native Ahtna language. A member of the faculty at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Smelcer has held visiting professorships at universities in various locations around the world. A collection of his poems, Riversongs, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

In the Shadows of Mountains: Ahtna Stories from the Copper River contains a collection of twenty-four stories from the Ahtna tribe. The stories consist of material by Ahtna elders and other tales told to Smelcer by his Ahtna relatives. These largely mythical stories "explore the processes that formed this world and created people, animals, places, and the distinctive interactions" between humans and nonhumans in legendary times, noted James Ruppert in MELUS. The tales range from stories common throughout Alaska, such as "The Blind Man and the Lion," to distinctly Ahtna stories specific to individual families and clans, such as "When They Killed the Monkey People." Ruppert concluded that Smelcer's book "has some value as a broad introduction to Ahtna narrative aimed at a general reader."

The Trap, Smelcer's first novel, is an "unforgettable survival tale, with both a life and a culture in the balance," commented Vicky Smith in Horn Book Magazine. Septuagenarian Albert Least-Weasel still clings to the old ways he has known all his life. While checking his traplines one cold winter day, Albert gets caught in one of his own wolf traps. Unable to reach his store of supplies, Albert faces certain death by exposure, dehydration, or animal attack, unless he can free himself or is rescued. At home, Albert's seventeen-year-old grandson Johnny becomes increasingly worried about his grandfather's welfare. Despite his best efforts, he is unable to generate much concern for the old man from his uncles, and cultural pride and the unwillingness to disrespect his elders prevents him from setting out on a search until his grandmother asks him to find her husband. By then, however, considerable time has passed, and Albert is in deadly danger. As he waits for rescue, Albert uses his outdoorsman skills to their fullest advantage, fighting off attacking wolves with a handmade spear and fashioning a rabbit trap out of a shoelace. "How rare to find lyrical writing combined with real suspense," mused a Kirkus Reviews critic, who called the book "a small masterpiece."(less)

combine editions
Books by John E. Smelcer

Average rating: 3.36 · 250 ratings · 98 reviews · 14 distinct works

	The Trap 3.33 avg rating — 124 ratings — published 2006 — 2 editions	My rating:
	The Great Death 3.48 avg rating — 98 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Edge of Nowhere by John E. Smelcer, Smelcer 2.78 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2010	My rating:
	The Raven and the Totem by John E. Smelcer, Larry Vienneau (illustrator), Susie Bevins (illustrator) 3.29 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1992	My rating:
	Durable Breath: Contemporary Native American Poetry 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1994	My rating:
	A Cycle of Myths: Indian Myths from Southeast Alaska 2.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1993	My rating:
	Day That Cries Forever 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2006	My rating:
	Without Reservation: New & Selected Poems 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2003	My rating:
	In the Shadows of Mountains by John E. Smelcer, Larry Vienneau (Illustrator), Gary Snyder (Foreword by) 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1997	My rating:
	Beautiful Words =: Kasuundze' Kenaege': Poems and Translations 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	My rating: