This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona

Sherman Alexie is a nationally recognized author whose works explore the identity of the modern Indigenous American. Many of Alexie’s fictional works have autobiographical elements, drawing in particular on Alexie’s experience growing up on the Spokane Indian Reserve and searching for both a personal and cultural identity. The latter is the premise of many of his works, including “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” and his famous novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), as well as his short story collections, The Toughest Indian in the World (2000) and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993).

Alexie became the subject of controversy during the 2018 #MeToo movement when three women publicly accused Alexie of sexual misconduct, encouraged to speak out by Alexie’s former friend and author Litsa Dremousis. NPR corroborated their stories of unwanted, flirtatious comments in private and public, flirting that became suddenly sexual in nature, and unwanted sexual advances. The women claimed that Alexie used his status as an author to put them in uncomfortable situations, and Alexie admitted in a public statement that many of these allegations were true and that “he has harmed others” (Neary, Lynn.