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Barrow Author Nominated for National Book Award

November 11th 7:13 pm | Hannah Heimbuch Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

One Monday morning in October a phone rang in Barrow, and the news on the other end made Debby Edwardson's heart stop. Rest assured, it was good news.

Edwardson's third book, My Name is Not Easy, was named as a finalist for the National Book Award. The National Book Foundation has been recognizing excellence in literature for more than 60 years.

My Name is Not Easy is a young adult novel about a group of Inupiat children sent away to boarding school in the '60s. The story follows their hope, homesickness and bonding as they try to navigate a world very different from the one they were born into.

The National Book Foundation Web site described the novel.

"Luke knows his Iñupiaq name is full of sounds white people can't say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students—Eskimo, Indian, White—line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there's some kind of war going on. Here, speaking Iñupiaq—or any native language—is forbidden."

Edwardson has lived in Barrow for more than 30 years, where she has worked as an educator, among other professions, and raised seven children. For this novel, she drew on boarding school stories from many neighbors and family members, including her husband, George Edwardson.

She said her goal initially was to give the young people of the North Slope a story to relate to.

"I wanted those young people to see themselves reflected in books," Edwardson said. "I thought that was important and that's why I wrote it. Those are the readers whose response means a lot to me."

With the popularity of this book, however, her readership has expanded. Edwardson said she hopes her future readers take away the respect she has for the Inupiaq worldview and the north in general. Edwardson is not Alaska Native but has always lived in northern places.

"The north feels like home to me, and the Arctic kind of gets into your blood," Edwardson said. "I like the way that the people are connected to the land that they live on. The Inupiaq culture, it's very rich."

Edwardson began writing as a child, and continued to use it in some way or another through most of her adult life. She published her first book, "Whale Snow," in 2003. Her second, "Blessing's Bead," came out just two years ago to excellent reviews.

"You do your best with every book you write, put your heart into it and hope for the best," Edwardson said.

Still, the National Book Award is quite a nod from the literary community, regardless of what her hopes may have been. Edwardson knew it was among the hundreds nominated in the young adult category, and planned to tune into NPR that Wednesday morning to casually listen to the results, with fingers crossed.

That Monday phone call, however, was not on her list of expectations; and neither were its implications.

"It's a game-changer," she said. "It'll put me in a position to do a lot of things that it would have been hard for me to do otherwise. I can teach in a number of different places, be a guest writer and it'll help market all of my books."

Future opportunities and marketing aside, Edwardson said she won't be leaving Barrow, at least not for longer than a few weeks at a time.

One of those times comes next week when she'll fly to New York City for the award ceremony and events surrounding it.

"I'm nervous, a little bit out of my element here because I've lived in Barrow for over 30 years and New York is a pretty different place," Edwardson said.

Regardless of anxieties, Edwardson leaves for New York a nationally acknowledged talent and with an important story to tell about Inupiaq history and culture.

She said she plans to highlight that role in a special way.

"I think I'll wear my atikluk."

The elders say the earth has turned over seven times,

pole to pole, north to south.

Freezing and thawing, freezing and thawing,

flipping over and tearing apart.

Changing everything.

We were there.

We were always there.

They say no one survived the ice age but they're wrong.

There were seven ice ages and we survived.

We survived them all . . .

--from My Name is Not Easy

 

Hannah Heimbuch can be reached at news@reportalaska.com

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