October 22, 5:00 pm PST - Live via Zoom
David Heska Wanbli Weiden | WINTER COUNTS
Performer TBD
October 23 - Writing Workshop with David Weiden
WINTER COUNTS is the story of a local Native American enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation who becomes obsessed with finding and stopping the dealer who is bringing increasingly dangerous drugs into his community. It’s a Native thriller, an examination of the broken criminal justice system on reservations, and a meditation on Native identity. Benjamin Percy, author of The Dark Net, says, “The full-throttle, can’t-put-it-downness of this novel is a fact. WINTER COUNTS is a hell of a gripping debut, perfectly plotted, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden is a major new voice in crime fiction, indigenous fiction, and American literature.”
Weiden is also the author of the children’s book SPOTTED TAIL (Reycraft, 2019), a biography of the great Lakota leader and winner of the 2020 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. He’s published work in the New York Times, Shenandoah, Yellow Medicine Review, Transmotion, Criminal Class Review, Tribal College Journal, and other magazines. He teaches creative writing at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, the MFA program in Writing and Publishing at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and the low-residency MFA program at Western Colorado University. Weiden received the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award, longlisted for the PRISM International Creative Nonfiction Award, shortlisted for the Briarpatch Creative Nonfiction Award, and winner of the Tribal College Journal fiction award. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts, his law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He was a Tin House Scholar, MacDowell Fellow, Ragdale Foundation resident, VONA alumnus, and received the 2018 PEN/America Writing for Justice Fellowship. He’s an active member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Western Writers of America, and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers. He’s Professor of Native American Studies and Political Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and lives in Colorado with his two sons. |
David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota nation, is author of the novel WINTER COUNTS (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2020), nominated for the 2021 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.
WINTER COUNTS, an IndieBound and Amazon bestseller, is a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by NPR, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Amazon, Sun Sentinel, LitReactor, CrimeReads, Deadly Pleasures, Air Mail, MysteryPeople, and BOLO Books. The book was also selected as an Amazon Best Mystery and Thriller of the year, an Indie Next pick, Best Noir Fiction and Best Debut of the Year as well as a Notable Selection for Best Crime Novel by CrimeReads. The novel was a main selection of the Book of the Month Club, Best of the Month by Apple Books, and was the November choice of the BuzzFeed Book Club and the AWP Virtual Book Club. The book was released in 2021 in France by Gallmeister Editions and titled JUSTICE INDIENNE. The novel is also being translated into German and Turkish. 
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Workshop with David—Writing Effective Dialog
Saturday, October 23, 2021—1:00 PM to 2:30 PM PDT
Come as you are to work with award-winning novelist David Weiden in a Stories on Stage Sacramento online creative writing workshop, Saturday, October 23. No homework. Just register and join us on Zoom for 90 minutes of dialogue inspiration from the master, debut author of Winter Counts.
An interview with David Heska Wanbli Weiden on his crime novel Winter Counts -- TEAGUE BOHLEN APRIL 30, 2021 Westword
The Edgar Award, as Denver author and Edgar finalist David Heska Wanbli Weiden puts it, is “like the Oscars for crime writers. It’s like our National Book Award.” So it was a big deal when Weiden’s thriller Winter Counts was shortlisted. It’s an even bigger deal that he’s only the second Native American writer to be named a finalist in the prize’s storied history.
Not that the Edgars are the only organization recognizing Weiden’s work — far from it. He’s already won a Lefty Award for Best Debut Novel, and the Western Writers of America presented his book with the Best Contemporary Novel and Best Debut Novel awards. Still pending is a cornucopia of other awards: the Barry, the Thriller, a Colorado Book Award, a Reading the West prize, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Weiden is going to be busy — and he might want to be making space on his fireplace mantel for all those pen-shaped trophies and whatnot.
We spoke with Weiden, who’s both a writer and a professor of Native American Studies and Political Science at Metropolitan State University, about his writing, how cultural identity affects his work, and the many award nominations he and Winter Counts are rightfully juggling.
Westword: Your recent novel, Winter Counts, has been nominated all over the place for too many awards to count, and has already won a couple. Before we jump into the book itself, what does it feel like to experience the whirlwind of accolades for your work?
Read the rest of the interview here.
Not that the Edgars are the only organization recognizing Weiden’s work — far from it. He’s already won a Lefty Award for Best Debut Novel, and the Western Writers of America presented his book with the Best Contemporary Novel and Best Debut Novel awards. Still pending is a cornucopia of other awards: the Barry, the Thriller, a Colorado Book Award, a Reading the West prize, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Weiden is going to be busy — and he might want to be making space on his fireplace mantel for all those pen-shaped trophies and whatnot.
We spoke with Weiden, who’s both a writer and a professor of Native American Studies and Political Science at Metropolitan State University, about his writing, how cultural identity affects his work, and the many award nominations he and Winter Counts are rightfully juggling.
Westword: Your recent novel, Winter Counts, has been nominated all over the place for too many awards to count, and has already won a couple. Before we jump into the book itself, what does it feel like to experience the whirlwind of accolades for your work?
Read the rest of the interview here.
Awards/Praise for Winter Counts
Winner of the Anthony Award: WINTER COUNTS was awarded the 2021 Anthony Award for Best First Novel.
Winner of the High Plains Book Award, Indigenous Writer: WINTER COUNTS was awarded the High Plains Book Award for Indigenous Writer.
Financial Times and Guardian reviews: The Financial Times gives WINTER COUNTS a rave review and states, “This is virtuoso stuff: socially committed as well as mesmerising crime fiction — with no proselytising agenda.” The Guardian also gives the novel a rave review, and states that it’s “an authentic and humane view of a largely unreported world, ravaged by years of systemic oppression.”
Winner of the Macavity Award: WINTER COUNTS was awarded the 2021 Macavity Award for Best First Novel.
New reviews: Brenna O’Hara in World Literature Today gives WINTER COUNTS a rave review. “Anyone interested in modern crime thrillers, the tricky politics of reservation law enforcement, or legally ambiguous antiheros with hearts of gold will enjoy Winter Counts, which redefines the constraints of the crime thriller genre and leaves readers with memorable characters, political insight, and a gripping, edge-of-your-seat story to boot.” The Billings Gazette and the Watertown Public Opinion gave the novel stellar reviews.
Winner of the Barry Award: WINTER COUNTS was awarded the 2021 Barry Award for Best First Novel.
Winner of the Thriller Award: The International Thriller Writers awarded WINTER COUNTS the 2021 Thriller Award for Best First Novel.
Best Paperback Lists: Buzzfeed includes WINTER COUNTS as a “new paperback you won’t want to put down.” CrimeReads lists the novel as one of the “Best New Books Out in Paperback.” BookRiot names WINTER COUNTS as a “Great New Paperback.”
Indie Next list: The paperback edition of WINTER COUNTS has been chosen for the July Indie Next list.
For a more complete list of awards (of which there are MANY) and more reviews, visit David's website.
Winner of the High Plains Book Award, Indigenous Writer: WINTER COUNTS was awarded the High Plains Book Award for Indigenous Writer.
Financial Times and Guardian reviews: The Financial Times gives WINTER COUNTS a rave review and states, “This is virtuoso stuff: socially committed as well as mesmerising crime fiction — with no proselytising agenda.” The Guardian also gives the novel a rave review, and states that it’s “an authentic and humane view of a largely unreported world, ravaged by years of systemic oppression.”
Winner of the Macavity Award: WINTER COUNTS was awarded the 2021 Macavity Award for Best First Novel.
New reviews: Brenna O’Hara in World Literature Today gives WINTER COUNTS a rave review. “Anyone interested in modern crime thrillers, the tricky politics of reservation law enforcement, or legally ambiguous antiheros with hearts of gold will enjoy Winter Counts, which redefines the constraints of the crime thriller genre and leaves readers with memorable characters, political insight, and a gripping, edge-of-your-seat story to boot.” The Billings Gazette and the Watertown Public Opinion gave the novel stellar reviews.
Winner of the Barry Award: WINTER COUNTS was awarded the 2021 Barry Award for Best First Novel.
Winner of the Thriller Award: The International Thriller Writers awarded WINTER COUNTS the 2021 Thriller Award for Best First Novel.
Best Paperback Lists: Buzzfeed includes WINTER COUNTS as a “new paperback you won’t want to put down.” CrimeReads lists the novel as one of the “Best New Books Out in Paperback.” BookRiot names WINTER COUNTS as a “Great New Paperback.”
Indie Next list: The paperback edition of WINTER COUNTS has been chosen for the July Indie Next list.
For a more complete list of awards (of which there are MANY) and more reviews, visit David's website.
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Check out our September performance
EVA AND EVE | Julie Metz
Performed by Julie Anchor
Our 2021 Season
We began the year with a special opening night partnership with 916 Ink and B Street Theater. Followed by performances of new work by authors Ellen Michaelson, Alia Volz, Nancy Johnson, Tod Goldberg, Elizabeth Gonzalez James, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Natashia Deon, and Julie Metz.
Stories on Stage Sacramento just published its first anthology!
Twenty Twenty—43 stories from a year like no other
We began the year with a special opening night partnership with 916 Ink and B Street Theater. Followed by performances of new work by authors Ellen Michaelson, Alia Volz, Nancy Johnson, Tod Goldberg, Elizabeth Gonzalez James, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Natashia Deon, and Julie Metz.
Stories on Stage Sacramento just published its first anthology!
Twenty Twenty—43 stories from a year like no other
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INSIGHT with Beth RuyakInsight host Beth Ruyak in conversation with Sue Staats and Jen Palmares Meadows
SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW
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