Jamie was invited to speak at the Dakota History Conference. Watch the flash movie as Jamie talks about Washaka - The Bear Dreamer, and how she met Leon Hale, whose dream was the basis for the book.
Jamie Lee's Blog
A Noun by Any Other Name
It’s a funny thing, this battle I have in my life with process nouns. Technically, they are called nominalizations—process words turned into “things”. I am a wife, mother, grandmother, woman, teacher—writer--instead of wifing, mothering, grandmothering, etc. When a process becomes a noun it is like flowing water that suddenly freezes. All movement is gone. We have to guard against these notorious nouns. Most of us begin writing like we begin a romance—it is a getting to know you process where we probe to better understand our world and how it works. We scribble our dirty little se... Read MoreJust the Facts
Jamie Lee writes both fiction and nonfiction. She also teaches developmental English at Oglala Lakota College on The Pine Ridge Reservation. She is aslo a mother of three, grand-mother of 10 (soon to be 11), and loves to putter and garden.
Her first novel, Washaka--The Bear Dreamer won the 2007 Ben Franklin Award for "Best New Voice in Fiction" and was also a finalist in the PEN USA Literary Awards.
Her short fiction has appeared in The South Dakota Review, Winds of Change Magazine, Byline, and many others.
Her favorite current project (besides teaching and writing novels) is The Bead People. She's been visiting schools and introducing kids to the story behind the Bead People.