For this “Sunday Documentary Special” episode of The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with Sterling HolyWhiteMountain, Executive Director of the James Welch Native Lit Fest, taking place July 15-18, 2026. The two discuss Sterling’s wish to bring discussions between Indigenous artists outside the bounds of academia and the many fantastic events taking place during the festival weekend.
About Jim:
James Welch was the author of the novels Winter in the Blood (Penguin Random House), Fools Crow (Penguin Random House), for which he received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, an American Book Award, and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, The Indian Lawyer (W. W. Norton & Company), The Death of Jim Loney (Penguin Random House), Riding the Earthboy 40 (Penguin Random House), and Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians (W. W. Norton & Company). He attended schools on the Blackfeet and Fort Belknap reservations in Montana, graduated from the University of Montana, where he studied writing with the late Richard Hugo, and served on the Montana State Board of Pardons.
About Sterling:
Sterling HolyWhiteMountain grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation. He holds a BA in English creative writing from the University of Montana and an MFA in fiction from the University of Iowa. He was a James C. McCreight Fiction Fellow at the University of Wisconsin and a Stegner fellow at Stanford University. His work has appeared in volumes 1 and 2 of Off the Path: An Anthology of 21st Century American Indian and Indigenous Writers, Montana Quarterly, ESPN.com., The Yellow Medicine Review, and The Atlantic. He is an unrecognized citizen of the Blackfeet Nation. His debut novel, Takes the Sun, is slated for publication in 2027.
Mentioned in this episode:
Vine DeLoria, Jr., author of Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto (University of Oklahoma Press), among other books
Heather Cahoon, author of Horsefly Dress (University of Arizona Press); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Heather here! Heather is giving the Thursday night keynote, “‘Riding the Earthboy 40’ at 55,” at 8 p.m. at the Missoula Children’s Theater
Jeff Ament’s short documentary, Paving the Way (with Debra Magpie Earling); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Debra here!
Winter in the Blood, a film directed by Andrew and Alex Smith (Ranchwater Films)
2026 panel on tribal sovereignty, featuring April Youpee-Roll, Evan Thompson, and Monte Mills; this panel will take place Saturday, July 18, at 11 a.m. at the Missoula Children’s Theater
2026 non-fiction panel, featuring Paul Chaat Smith (recently retired curator of the National Museum of the American Indian), Elissa Washuta, and Byron Aspaas; this panel will take place on Friday, July 17, at 2 p.m. at the Missoula Art Museum
Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians , Buffalo Hunter Hunter, My Heart is a Chainsaw, and others (Simon & Schuster; Saga Press); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Stephen here! This event will take place Saturday, July 18, at 1:30 p.m. at the Missoula Children’s Theater
“We Talk, You Listen,” featuring Arthur Sze, National Poet Laureate and former professor of dg nanouk okpik and Sherwin Bitsui; this panel will take place Saturday, July 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Missoula Children’s Theater
Lois Welch talks about Jim’s poetry at the Radius Gallery on Friday, July 17, at 8 p.m.
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The Write Question team is Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, co-producer and sound engineer. This episode is supported by Montana Book Co., located in downtown Helena, Montana, since 1978, offering new books for all ages, vinyl records, and community activism. For delivery in Helena and shipping online, visit mtbookco.com.
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.
Funding for The Write Question comes from members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. A hat-tip to Humanities Montana for supporting this program since 2008.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
