Celebrating Literary Voices of the Pacific Rim

2006 KIRIYAMA PRIZE WINNERS

for Fiction

The Hummingbird's Daughter
Luis Alberto Urrea

The family stories Luis Alberto Urrea heard as a child about his great aunt, a Yaqui faith-healer who was known as the Saint of Cabora, inspired the author to spend several years finding out more about her and finally to present her story through fiction. Urrea’s powerful, winning novel, The Hummingbird’s Daughter is the result. A keen ability to bring the characters and story alive, together with a creative rendering of history, make Urrea’s book both captivating and enlightening in its portrayal of revolutionary Mexico.

The San Francisco Chronicle said, “Urrea has created a classic, a tribute and love song to the colorful and vibrant heart of all things Mexican.” The Washington Post: “Pure delight. . . . A luminous novel. . . . A book of surprises and savory treasures,” and The Chicago Sun-Times described it as “a literary gem that does more than soar. It transcends.”

Gail Tsukiyama, novelist and chair of the fiction judges’ panel, agreed, “Urrea masterfully brings together a story of a clash of cultures, politics and corruption, religion and spirituality, love and heartbreak to a dazzling effect."

Born in Tijuana, Mexico to a Mexican father and an American mother, Luis Alberto Urrea has published 11 books, which encompass all the major genres. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Lannan Literary Award and American Book Award, and he is a member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame. Urrea’s 2004 nonfiction bestseller The Devil’s Highway was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction and for the Kiriyama Prize in nonfiction. He is the first author ever to be recognized by the Kiriyama Prize judges for works of both fiction and nonfiction. Urrea currently teaches creative writing at the University of Illinois in Chicago. His website is at: www.luisurrea.com.

Read a review of this book by Gail Tsukiyama, novelist and chair of the judges for the 2006 fiction prize, on Pacific Rim Voices' WaterBridge Review website.

The Hummingbird's Daughter is available from the following publishers:

USA and Canada
Little, Brown & Co.
(hardback) ISBN 0316745464
Back Bay Books
(paperback) ISBN 0316154520

United Kingdom
Little, Brown & Co.
(paperback) ISBN 0316013811

for Nonfiction

The Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia
Piers Vitebsky

In The Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia, nonfiction winner Piers Vitebsky draws on extensive fieldwork, spanning nearly two decades living with his family among the Eveny nomads in northeast Siberia, the coldest place on earth to be inhabited by human beings. Vitebsky’s work combines empathy and depth with keen observation. The book is peopled by a colorful cast of characters he has come to know well — a cast which includes not only human herders, shamans, and Communist Party bosses, but also dogs, bears, and some very individualistic reindeer, including one the Eveny named Bill Clinton and another they named Margaret Thatcher (in accordance with their “personalities”). The Reindeer People is a moving tribute to the Siberian native peoples’ spirit, endurance, resourcefulness, and sense of humor in the face of a brutal environment. It is also a vivid account of the effectively brutal attempts over the years by the Soviets to control and settle the Eveny; and of rapid social, political, economic, and environmental changes that now threaten the way of life of indigenous people in many parts of the world.

The Daily Telegraph (UK) said, "If you read one book this year... read Reindeer People. This book will grip and enlighten anyone... Like the reindeer themselves, this book takes wing." The Times of London: "Like all the finest anthropology, this book entertains readers with descriptions of an alien culture, only to imbue them with a deeper sense of common humanity."

Piers Vitebsky was the first westerner to live with Siberian reindeer people since the Russian revolution and is head of anthropology and Russian northern studies at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. In a quote that reflects the reverent tone of the book, Vitebsky said, "My reward for living with the Eveny has been ... a glimpse into the enduring relationship between a community of humans and a species put on Earth to nourish them with its flesh, insulate them with its fur and exalt them with its soul."

Read a review of this book by Laura Lent, one of the judges for the 2006 nonfiction prize, on Pacific Rim Voices' WaterBridge Review website.

The Reindeer People is available from the following publishers:

United Kingdom*
HarperCollins UK
(hardback) ISBN 0007133626
HarperPerennial
(paperback) ISBN 0007133634

USA
Houghton Mifflin
(hardback) ISBN 0618211888
Mariner Books
(forthcoming paperback, Dec. 2006)
ISBN 0618773576

*In the UK, the book was entitled Reindeer People, missing out "The" from the title.

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2006 KIRIYAMA PRIZE WINNERS

The Hummingbird's Daughter Luis Alberto Urrea

The Hummingbird's Daughter
Luis Alberto Urrea