‘There There’ author Tommy Orange to speak at Weber State

The ‘Browning Presents!’ series of arts and culture events at Weber State University is free and open to the public.

NEWS

Weber State’s Browning Theater where Browning Presents! arts and culture events are held. Photo provided

The author of the best-selling novels “There There” and “Wandering Stars,” Tommy Orange, will be on campus this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. for an interview-style presentation and Q-and-A session. The event is free and open to the public.

The “Browning Presents!” series, supported by the Browning Foundation, has offered entertaining and educational events since 1978. Though they take place on campus, the public is encouraged to attend and admission is free.

“Weber State is all about access and so we want to make sure that anyone can come,” said Deborah Uman, dean of Lindquist College of Arts and Humanities, which organized the event. 

Tommy Orange is a popular figure on campus. A number of faculty have taught Orange’s works in their classes this year, and book clubs have been organized around his novels, Uman said. “There’s just a whole lot of enthusiasm.”

Uman is also a fan. “I have to admit that I have read his books and just think they are incredibly profound and moving,” she said.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. His works have brought attention to the experiences of urban Native Americans. 

After the release of “There There,” which won the American Book Award and was a Pulitzer prize finalist, among other awards, Orange told The New Yorker:

“Native people suffer from poor representation as it is, but having little representation in literature, as well as no (literary) version of our (urban Native) experience, was what made me want to write into that space, that void, and try to honor and express fully all that it entails to be Native and be from Oakland.”

For those new to Orange’s work, Uman recommends starting with “There There” as it’s sort-of a prequel to “Wandering Stars.” Orange described it as “part sequel, part prequel” in an interview with Equire.

Though it may not directly address the forced migration of America’s indigenous people, the new exhibit at Weber State’s Shaw Gallery “We Are All Migrants,” with its themes of human migration and shifting political borders, seems to coincide with Tommy Orange’s visit to discuss his novels about indigenous identity and history.

It was not planned, but a “happy coincidence,” Uman said. She says to “give yourself time and emotional space” for the exhibit. 

Catch both events this week, and discover all upcoming arts and cultural events at Weber State University here.

Photos provided