Congratulations to the two Northwest writers who won National Book Awards this week, Sherman Alexie and Denis Johnson. (And a belated congratulations to last year’s winner, Timothy Egan, who’s also a Northwesterner of course.)
It’s an interesting curiosity that all three writers have roots in the Inland Northwest. Though he lives in Seattle now, Alexie was born in Spokane and grew up nearby on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Egan, who also lives in Seattle now, grew up in Spokane. And the reclusive Denis Johnson reportedly lives in northern Idaho.
