This week on The Write Question, Lauren chats with Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe, author of Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk (Counterpoint Press). Red Paint is part memoir and part family history—full of personal stories from the author’s childhood and her not-so-distant past, as well as the story of the Coast Salish people, a beautifully woven story of the women who came before her, of their strength and spirituality. Red Paint is the story (stories) of the author’s healing journey, one that would take her from a number of traumatic childhood and adolescent experiences, and relationships that left her yearning for acceptance, inclusion, and independence, to a home of her own, one she was able to make on her own terms—punk rock, red paint, poetry, and all.
About Sasha:
Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe is a Coast Salish author from the Nooksack and Upper Skagit Indian tribes. She received a double MFA in Creative Nonfiction and Poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She lives in Tacoma, Washington. She is the author of Red Paint.
Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe recommends:
Sharks in the time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn (MCD Books)
Lauren Korn recommends:
“What Protest Music Meant to My Coast Salish Great Grandmother, And What It Means to Me” by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe (Vogue)
There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis edited by Tracy K. Smith and John Freeman (Penguin Random House)
Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller (One World, Penguin Random House)
Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq (Penguin Books Canada)
The Punk Singer, a documentary directed by Sini Anderson
A Band Called Death, a documentary directed by Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlett
—
The Write Question team is Lauren Korn, host and co-producer; Peter Hoag, co-producer and editor; and Tom Berich, sound engineer.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss. Our music was written and recorded by John Floridis.
Funding for The Write Question comes from Humanities Montana; members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
