Tommy Orange presents on writing and pretending

Published Feb. 3, 2025, 10:39 p.m., last updated Feb. 3, 2025, 10:39 p.m.

On Thursday night, Tommy Orange —  novelist, storyteller and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma —  gave a lecture titled “Pretending — An American History” at the Stanford Faculty Club. The event was the 20th annual Anne and Loren Kieve Distinguished Lecture, co-sponsored by eight programs from across the university.

Orange is the author of “There There,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the 2019 American Book Award. Orange’s second novel, “Wandering Stars,” was listed as a notable book by The New York Times and longlisted for the Booker Prize. 

The evening centered on ideas of Native American identity, authorship and pretending, as Orange recounted a brief American history of non-Native people pretending to be Native, before giving the audience a preview of his forthcoming novel. 

The lecture’s theme of “pretending” also came from Orange’s feeling that “a lot of writers have to start out pretending that they’re writers.” 

The event began with an introduction by Annie Atura, the Executive Director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE). Then, Demetrius Brown ’27 took the stage to offer a land acknowledgement, first in the Lakota language, then in English. Teresa D. LaFromboise, Faculty Director of Native American Studies, introduced Orange. 

“We are in for a profound cultural lesson on Native American life this evening,” LaFromboise said.

Orange discussed early experiences he had with the writing world. The main focus of the evening was inspiration — when and how it strikes, and what can happen when you choose to carry out an idea. Orange shared the inspirations for his two previous novels, as well as the new book he is working on currently. 

Orange revealed he’d previously been toying with the idea of writing a parody of Asa Earl Carter’s “The Education of Little Tree,” a novel embroiled in scandal, as its author pretended to be Native American. An even fuller idea took shape for Orange while he was on a treadmill in Arizona, listening to an audiobook of R. F. Kuang’s “Yellowface.” The question inspired his novel-in-progress: “What if someone rose to prominence as a Native author and then realized they aren’t Native?”

The excerpt Orange shared from his future work displayed a domestic scene of a character named Ben and his family. Through Ben’s narration, the scene spanned epic swaths of history, from the ancient to the contemporary. Germanic barbarians were connected to podcasting, while the Roman Empire was connected to memes about the Roman Empire. 

The excerpt elicited excited reactions from the audience — a glimpse inside a forthcoming Tommy Orange book is a major event, though readers have to wait until the novel is published to appreciate the work’s greater meaning.

Orange followed the reading with a brief history of non-Native people pretending to be Native — including the Boston Tea Party, when protestors dressed as Indians to avoid rousing suspicion. Then, he discussed the 1800s, when no one was pretending to be Native because Native Americans were brutalized. Orange took the audience into contemporary Native representation in film, television and even Coachella concerts.

The second portion of the evening consisted of an interview moderated by Paula Moya, Faculty Director of the CCSRE. Moya asked questions with an eye to paratexts, which consist of the book’s written material outside of the novel itself. In Orange’s novels, there are many paratexts: the title “Wandering Stars,” the epigraphs in “There There” and the novel’s famous prologue about Native history in America. 

“Epigraphs are the fun part,” Orange said, and prologues guide the reader through “the doorway of the novel.” 

“There There” was published during the important political moment of Trump’s first administration. Orange’s agent liked that the prologue “resisted the idea that America was great at one time,” said Orange.

When asked about how Orange remains hopeful for his community during the time of the Trump administration, he said, “Native people have survived a lot worse.” Orange also said that having two children makes him “have to have hope.” 

Orange concluded by focusing on the importance of continuing to make and believe in art. Tying together the evening’s discussion of art, history and politics, he said, “Art that exists in uncomfortable times can rise to the occasion.” 

Orange urged audiences to “keep showing up,” even during the uncomfortable times.

Cate Burtner is the Vol. 267 Opinions Managing Editor and the Vol. 266 Reads Desk Editor. She is also an Arts & Life Staff Writer. She could talk about books all day.

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