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KPBS Midday Edition

Trailblazing Native American author reflects on six decades of writing

N. Scott Momaday. Interview in New York City.
Courtesy of Terrance Clifford
An undated photo of N. Scott Momaday taken in New York City.

Native American author N. Scott Momaday has celebrated the traditions of his Kiowa ancestry in his prose, poetry, essays and playwriting for more than 60 years.

His 1968 novel “House Made of Dawn” made him the first Indigenous author to win a Pulitzer Prize, which led to a breakthrough for Native American literature into mainstream recognition.

Momaday, now 88, is encouraged by the increased number of Native American authors currently working in the literary sphere.

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"There's a wonderful story to be told," Momaday said. "The American Indian experience is really wonderful, wonderfully dramatic and full of good things — things worth telling."

Momaday will be the featured speaker at the Point Loma Nazarene University's Writer's Symposium by the Sea on Friday.

Momaday joined Midday Edition on Wednesday to discuss his career and his influences.

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