ODU’s Drew Lopenzina to Discuss Writing Skills of Native Americans on the ‘With Good Reason’ Public Radio Show

March 14, 2013

Drew Lopenzina

A common historical myth is that Native Americans were an "oral people" and did not communicate via the written word. In his new book, "Red Ink: Native Americans Picking Up the Pen in the Colonial Period," Drew Lopenzina, assistant professor of English at Old Dominion University, argues that Native Americans early on acquired the skills of reading and writing.

Lopenzina will be a guest on public radio show "With Good Reason" on Thursday, March 21. The show airs at 1:30 p.m. on WHRV-FM, 89.5.

The show is being broadcast around the state and in select markets across the country from March 16-22. Broadcast times are posted at: http://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/when-to-listen/.

Lopenzina is a scholar of Early American and Native American literature. His work has appeared in the journals American Literature, American Quarterly, American Indian Quarterly and others. He is currently working on a biography of the 19th century Pequot activist and minister William Apess.

Also featured in this episode of "With Good Reason" will be Virginia Military Institute historian Turk McCleskey, speaking about how seriously the first settlers of Virginia's frontier took the law, and Bonnie Gordon and Emily Gale of the University of Virginia, who are working to uncover the soundscape of early America.

Produced by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, "With Good Reason" spotlights research being conducted at Virginia's public universities.

Faculty members are encouraged to join the "With Good Reason" Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/With-Good-Reason-radio/203141233005, or subscribe to the show's podcast, www.tinyurl.com/wgrpodcast.

Audio files of the full program and its companion news feature will be posted Friday to the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities website, at www.virginiahumanities.org. A permanent link to this show can be found here: http://withgoodreasonradio.org/2013/03/red-ink/.

"With Good Reason" has twice won the Gabriel Award for Best Documentary/Public Affairs Program. It also is the recipient of top honors from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters and won a second-place award in the Public Radio News Directors competition.