Background
Penn, William Swain was born on March 21, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of William Swain and Elizabeth Elnore (Hall) Penn.
( The narrator-protagonist of this magical novel about ur...)
The narrator-protagonist of this magical novel about urban mixed-blood Indian life is Albert (Alley) Hummingbird, a self-conscious, shy college student who masks his feelings with humor and who longs to reconcile the two cultures that have formed him. Alley is not supposed to live at birth, but his grandfather, a Nez Perce, rescues him from Death (who reappears throughout the novel as a petty, mean, pathetic, and ultimately funny character). The grandfather’s teachings to Alley, which come from the afterlife region known as the "absence of angels," connect Alley to his Indian heritage when he needs it. Otherwise his life is fragmented: a father who rejected his heritage, a mother who is slightly mad, and a friend, Sara, with whom Alley is in love.
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( The customary cant about being an American Indian goes ...)
The customary cant about being an American Indian goes like this: Indians must live in wide open spaces; they must define their spirituality by chant, dance, and drum; they must pass down their traditions with reverent care; and they must offer tourists Indian art and Indian experiences to take home. On one side of commercial Indianness there is sloppy sentimentality, and on the other, speechless hatred. But what of those born between, like W. S. Penn, with an Anglo parent demanding that Indianness be abandoned and an Indian parent clinging to all that can be held? What of those who grew up in the cities? Can they express more than confusion, frustration, and rage? Are there alternatives to assimilation, submission, or revolt? In All My Sins Are Relatives Penn finds in his own family three generations trying to come to terms with their differences and their Indianness. Within its pages, Penn describes learning the depths of his love for his grandfather, to whom he dedicated this book. “As arrogant as youth can be, I was often too busy silently grading his grammar to pay real attention and see what he was giving me.” Among the gifts was an awareness of what a story could tell, what it could conceal, and what it could never tell. His grandfather inhabited a different sense of time, and it was a long while before Penn lived there too. When he did, he was back again with a story, working on how Indian writers wrote poetry and prose. In the work of other Indian writers and in his own Penn found that although white and Indian cultures cannot mingle, they can be bridged. All My Sins Are Relatives is a bridge.
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Penn, William Swain was born on March 21, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of William Swain and Elizabeth Elnore (Hall) Penn.
AB, University of California, Davis, 1970; Doctor of Arts, Syracuse University, 1979.
Assistant professor, State University of New York, Oswego, 1980-1983; assistant professor, Hostos Community College, Bronx, New York, 1985-1987; professor, Michigan State University, East Lansing, since 1987. Regional coordinator Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers, since 1992. EditorAm. Indian literature series Michigan State University, East Lansing, since 1996.
( The customary cant about being an American Indian goes ...)
( The narrator-protagonist of this magical novel about ur...)
(Invites readers to explore the untamed territory of race ...)
Married Jennifer Siani, July 22, 1983. Children: Rachel Antonia, William Anthony.