Stephen Graham Jones, author "Mongrels," "Demon Theory"

This week’s guest on REPORT FROM SANTA FE is Stephen Graham Jones, a Blackfeet Native American author of experimental fiction, horror and noir fiction, and science fiction. Some of his best-selling books include "Mongrels," "Growing Up Dead in Texas," and "Demon Theory." He has written over 25 novels and hundreds of short stories. Jones has been honored with an NEA Fellowship, the Texas Writer’s League Fellowship, the Texas Institute of Letters Award, and the Independent Publishers Multi-Cultural Award, and the “This is Horror” Award. Dr. Jones is an English professor at the University of Colorado where he teaches such classes as “Werewolves” and “Zombies.” For his Werewolf class, Jones explored the wolf-spirit myths of the European and Native American traditions. “Mongrels” is packed with werewolf lore, old and new. In this interview Jones examines how these myths affect the plight of real wolves today. As a member of the Blackfeet Nation, Jones works at countering native stereotypes and fights cultural appropriation. He is part of new processes for re-imagining Native Americans in the arts. Quote on “noir” fiction: “This is what noir is, what it can be when it stops playing nice--blunt force drama stripped down to the bone, then made to dance across the page.” -- Stephen Graham Jones "You know how you once wished you were a werewolf? How you stood in front of the mirror and wanted to see a transformation? "Mongrels" takes you by the hand, guides you down that road, finally, to that change....Stephen Graham Jones is as powerful as the monsters herein." -- John Malerman, author of Bird Box