6/19/2019, 9:21 a.m
Tommy Orange
Next January, Multnomah County Library will launch Everybody Reads 2020, the library’s 18th annual community reading project, with Tommy Orange and his debut novel, There There. There There offers a series of gripping portraits and perspectives of Native people in urban America, told from the perspectives of 12 characters traveling to Oakland, Calif. for a powwow, each of them contending with issues of identity, memory and belonging. Orange’s debut novel has been greeted with praise from critics and readers alike. There There was selected as a 2019 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Fictionand was honored as one of the 10 Best Books of 2018 by the editors of The New York Times Book Review. Everybody Reads 2020 provides an opportunity to explore the experiences and perspectives around the Native experience in urban settings. The library is working with the Native community to center events and discussions around Native voices, organizations and movements. The library will distribute thousands of copies of There There through libraries and high schools across Multnomah County early next year as part of the project. Orange is a graduate of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Oakland, Calif.