December 12, 2007

Greg Sarris (Coastal Miwok) is a writer, screenwriter, and professor. He was elected to his seventh term as the chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (California). Sarris received his Ph.D. from Stanford University and currently holds an endowed chair in Native American Studies at Sonoma State University.

Sarris has published several books, including Grand Avenue (Penguin, 1994), which he adapted for an HBO miniseries of the same name and co-produced with Robert Redford. His last novel, Watermelon Nights (Penguin, 1998), follows three generations of California Indians and has been adapted as a play by the Santa Rosa Community College Theatre. Sarris has also written plays for Pieces of the Quilt, Intersection Theatre, and the Mark Taper Forum. Recently, he finished editing the book Teaching the Work of Louise Erdrich (MLA, 2004), with Connie Jacobs and James Giles.