“The best teachers have shown me that things have to be done bit by bit.
Nothing that means anything happens quickly – we only think it does.”
Inspiration
“I try to live as much as possible in a way that is balanced and respectful towards the earth and all living things.”
Abenaki Culture
“A tree is strong because of its roots.”
Born on October 16, 1942 in Greenfield Center, NY
Education and Background
*B.A. from Cornell University
*M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse
*Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Union Institute of Ohio
*Taught English in Ghana, West Africa for 3 years
*Conducted a Creative Writing and African Literature program at Skidmore College
*Coordinated college programs at Great Meadow Correctional Facility
*Writer, Storyteller, Poet, Musician
*My poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications including American Poetry Review, Cricket, Aboriginal Voices, National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine.
Featured Books
2002
2005
1997
1995
1996 Boston Globe Book Award
2003
1997 Paterson Award
1999 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award
2001 Parents Guide to Children’s Media Award
2000 Parents Choice Gold Award
1997
click
2011
1975
Book Talk about Wolf Mark
Westchester Young Adult Fiction Award
Native American Folktales
Co-Authored with my son James Bruchac Illustrated by Stefano Vitale
“The future is linked with the
past. Our stories are a swaying
dancing bridge between them.”
Central Themes in Literature:
*We have to listen to each other and to the earth
*We have to respect each other and the earth
*We never know anyone until we know what they have in their heart.
Honors
*Rockefeller Humanities fellowship
*A National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry
*The Cherokee Nation Prose Award
*The Knickerbocker Award
*The Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Lit.
*2005 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award
*1998 Writer of the Year Award
*1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of *Native Writers and Storytellers
*1999 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
Dawnland Singers
Our musical group includes my sons Jesse and James as well as my sister, Margaret.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Jesse & James – run an online bookstore called www.nativeauthors.com
Joseph & Jesse
James
Greenfield Review Literary Center
and Greenfield Review Press
Book Awards
*American Book Award for Breaking Silence
*Horn Book honor and 1996 Boston Globe Book Award for The Boy Who Lived with the Bears
*Scientific American Children’s Book Award for The Story of the Milky Way
*2001 Parents Guide to Childrens' Media Award for Skeleton Man
*2000 Parents Choice Gold Award for Crazy Horse's Vision
*1999 Jane Addams Childrens Book Award for Heart of a Chief
*1997 Paterson Award for Dog People
Birdfoots Grandpa
by Joseph Bruchac
The old man
must have stopped our car
two dozen times to climb out
and gather into his hands
the small toads blinded
by our lights and leaping,
live drops of rain.
The rain was falling,
a mist about his white hair
and I kept saying
You can’t save them all
accept it, get back in
we’ve got places to go.
But, leathery hands full
of wet brown life
knee deep in summer
roadside grass,
he just smiled and said:
"They have places to go too.”
American Indian Heritage Month- Nov.
National Museum of the American Indian
Smithsonian Institute
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/heritage_month/aihm/index.html
Contact Me
Joseph Bruchac
P.O. Box 308
Greenfield Center, NY 12833
Phone: (518) 584-1728
Fax: (518) 583-9741
Email: nudatlog (at) earthlink.net
“I want to be remembered as a voice for the people rather than as one who spoke for himself. Whatever gifts I've been given have been given to me for a reason. No matter how much I give back, it could never be enough.”
Works Cited
Bruchac, J. (1997). Bowman's store: A journey to myself. New York: Dial Books.
Children's Literature - Meet Joseph Bruchac. (2005, July 1). Retrieved November 26, 2014, from http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_bruchac_joseph.html
Joseph Bruchac's Biography | Scholastic.com. (2014, January 1). Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/joseph-bruchac
Joseph Bruchac Home Page: Author biography, published works, performance schedule, multimedia videos, music and poetry. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://josephbruchac.com/index.html