Little Shell author leading Havre book discussion

2018 Montana Book Award author Chris La Tray is coming to Havre-Hill County Library as part of the Winter Reading Series, Thursday at 7 p.m.

"I like talking about books and writing with interested people," La Tray said. "Getting to talk to people about my work is one of the unexpected high points of having had such success with this weird little book." 

La Tray wrote "One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large," that came out in August 2018.

He said he was born and raised in Montana and is an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. 

He added that he is working with Milkweed Editions working on a book called "Becoming Little Shell."

"It is the story of my mixed-race, Métis heritage, my father who denied that heritage, and the community I was denied as a result," La Tray said. "It is also a history of the state's Métis people, known as Montana's 'Landless Indians,' and our largely unrecognized cultural presence on the High Plains of the U.S."

Havre-Hill County Library Director Rachel Rawn said she had heard La Tray speak before.

"I heard Chris talk at the award reception for the 2018 Montana Book Awards, but that was before I read his book," she said. "He was very genuine and funny; but now that I've read 'One-Sentence Journal,' and loved it, I am even more interested in hearing him speak again, and to have the opportunity to discuss his book with him."

La Tray said he also works part-time at Fact & Fiction Books in Missoula.

"I'm a writer and storyteller - nonfiction, fiction, poetry, magazine work, newspaper work, everything," he said. "Story is how we connect with each other, across communities, even across time and space, and I love being part of that tradition."

The next event in the Winter Reading Series will be Thursday, Feb. 6, covering "The Beekeeper of Aleppo" by Christy Lefteri, with discussion led by Will Rawn.