PRAISE FOR JOHN SMELCER'S WRITING
(from the dustcovers)
"John Smelcer has performed a great service to the Ahtna people. It is also a great service to everyone who hopes to understand and appreciate the rich potential of human life and capacity. We can only hope that such achievements will inspire others to follow in the same path."
-- Noam Chomsky
“John Smelcer is among the most brilliant poets in recent American history.”
-- Allen Ginsberg
"John Smelcer is by far the best writer to come out of Alaska since Jack London."
-- Rod Clark
“I would argue—and rightly so—that John Smelcer is among the best poets of his generation.”
-- Stanley Kunitz, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Poet Laureate of the United States
“No other contemporary poet carries such a heavy ethnic burden. He is the voice of a nation—of all people.”
-- Carl Sagan, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
“Luminous, wonderfully well-wrought.”
-- Ralph Ellison, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"A celebration of the diversity of cultures. Undeniably important."
-- James Michener (on The Raven and the Totem)
"Indispensable."
-- J.D. Salinger (on John's short story collection)
"His writing impresses me. And his life!"
-- Alice Walker
"John Smelcer is Alaska's modern day Jack London."
-- W. P. Kinsella, author of Field of Dreams
"When it comes to revisioning the Native American experience in the history of America, few writers are as triumphant as John Smelcer."
-- Howard Zinn, The People's History of the United States of America
"The Trap is a lovely story, beautifully told."
-- Winston Groom (Forrest Gump)
"John Smelcer's The Trap is the best novel we've ever received in the history of the prize." -- Dave Nightingale, president of the James Jones Literary Society
"[Edge of Nowhere] is an astonishing story of survival with more psychological depth than Robinson Crusoe."
-- Frank McCourt, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Angela's Ashes.
"(The Great Death) A must-read by an exciting new novelist. Definitely one to watch!"
-- Bookseller's Choice (UK)
"John Smelcer's gripping The Great Death is an epic journey."
-- The Independent (England)
"Smelcer's bilingual poems and his two dictionaries of endangered Alaska Native languages are a priceless gift to posterity."
-- Steven Pinker, bestselling author of The Language Instinct
"The Great Death...is a celebration of the human spirit."
-- The Daily Mail (UK)
"The Great Death is an amazing story! I couldn't put it down."
-- Frank McCourt, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Angela's Ashes
"The Great Death is an outstanding piece of writing and undoubtedly my favourite novel of the year."
-- The Bookseller (UK)
"A gripping and poignant story, made even more so because of its basis on historical fact. Smelcer's prose is clean and rich; original yet unpretentious."
-- Horn Book (starred review)
"The Great Death is part history and part survival guide. It graphically illustrates the effects of a plague on isolated peoples."
-- School Library Journal
"I envy John's writerly production."
-- William Least Heat-Moon, author of Blue Highways
“Like his contemporary John Haines, Smelcer’s roots to the wilderness are uniquely Alaskan . . . poetry perfectly tuned to nature’s rhythms.”
-- William Stafford
"Raven is astonishing! Reading it I can't help feel my own poems wholly inadequate."
-- Norman Mailer
"A beautiful and poignant story. Stunning!"
-- Elie Wiesel, winner of the Nobel Prize (on The Great Death)
"The North, the winter, warmth within cold--this poet speaks from the land, and for the land, and the people who belong to it."
-- Ursula K. Le Guin
“[His] lyric poems are delicate webs of water, linking myth with the tenderness of the everyday.”
-- Joy Harjo
"From the Far North comes Crow's bigger cousin, jabbering news of this poet."
-- Ted Hughes
"Smelcer’s poems are clear, rueful, courageous, sardonic, hard-lived, and backed up with a big heart and life-knowledge . . . Poems with a sweet clarity that leaves us with no excuse. To be taken straight.”
-- Gary Snyder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Chancellor of the American Academy of Poetry
“In a world where such poets are more rare than people might imagine, John Smelcer is one of the truly great poets I have come across in my life. His poetry is genius.”
-- Ruth Stone, winner of the National Book Award
“A small masterpiece.”
-- Kirkus Review (on The Trap)
"The Trap is the most haunting and best written book this year."
-- Carousel (UK)
“An unforgettable story. Brilliant!”
-- Ray Bradbury (on The Trap)
The Great Death is a haunting novel, which will strike the reader's heart. Outstanding!"
-- The Bookseller (UK)
"The Great Death reminds me of Cormack McCarthy's The Road."
-- Ann McGovern
"This grim tale of struggle against the elements will leave readers wanting more."
-- Booklist (about The Great Death)
"John Smelcer is regarded Down Under as one of the best American poets."
-- Poetry Australia
"The Trap is a remarkable book...written in simple and beautiful language."
-- School Librarian (UK)
“The Trap is a gripping example of talented storytelling.”
-- Tony Hillerman
"John Smelcer is an Alaskan literary treasure."
-- Jay Hammond (former governor of Alaska)
"There are very few remaining Native speakers of our language. John [Smelcer] has done a great deal to help preserve our ways, and we know that he will continue to do so in the future. He [is] our descendant, and it is trusted and hoped that [he] will carry on our heritage and the knowledge of our traditional ways."
-- Chairman of the Board, Ahtna Native Corporation (1999)
“John Smelcer is one of the most underrated authors of our time.”
-- Amazon.com
"A poignant story of America's insidious system of ethnic assimilation."
-- Saul Bellow, winner of the Nobel Prize (on Stealing Indians)
“They say poetry is cathartic. Reading these poems teaches us poetry is necessary.”
-- John Updike, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
“John Smelcer’s writing is a sometimes harsh, yet accurate depiction of the contemporary Native American experience.”
-- Michael Dorris
“The poet behind the poems is a self-sufficient man of the land who loves language and, while he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, he also is a good man, one who is trying to solve and understand the problems of the past.”
-- Diane Wakoski
“What impresses me most about John Smelcer, aside from his powerful writing, is his tenacity, his indomitable spirit. He has never given up, never let others quiet his voice no matter how much they try. He continues to write, and the world continues to listen.”
-- James Welch, winner of the National Book Award
“Press your ear to the ground, they say, and this is the voice you will hear.”
-- Sherod Santos
“This kid’s f#!*ing good! Screw me!”
-- Charles Bukowski
“This is poetry as it should be, without a wasted word, with unparalleled attention to sound and rhythm.”
-- W. P. Kinsella, author of Field of Dreams
“A skilled and worthy poet, one of our best. Few people can afford not to have his writing in their library.”
-- Denise Levertov
“It impresses me that John Smelcer is a very considerable American poet, an astute observer of our contemporary scene.”
-- X. J. Kennedy
"Smelcer gives us hope that poetry and its precise and symbolic language can save us."
-- Maria Mazziotti Gillan, winner of the American Book Award
"John 'alt'senii, tsin'aen koht'aene kenaege' ghanii nilna'sghidaetl'."
"We say thanks to John for bringing us togther for the Ahtna language."
-- Ahtna Chief Harry Johns, 1998
"Without Reservation is a compelling voice, unforgettable and highly recommended."
-- Library Bookwatch
"I've been to John's cabin in Tazlina Village. I've met his Indian relatives, seen the poverty. About John's writing I can say this: The depth, sincerity, and urgency of Smelcer's unique and bipolar vision is not the short-term profiteering of a Kevin Costner, but the product of a life tortured and graced by a celebration of American existence, a comprehension of grand achievement and irretrievable loss."
-- Bard Young, Cumberland Poetry Review