News
Chris Stark Wins NEMBA Award for ‘Carnival Lights’
Modern History Press is proud to announce that its author Chris Stark has become a winner at the 2022 Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards (NEMBA). Stark’s book Carnival Lights has been declared the winner in the Fiction category at NEMBA.
Carnival Lights tells the engaging story of cultural survival through the eyes of two teenage Ojibwe girls from a northern Minnesota reservation. Along their journey, the girls – Kris and Sher – confront a world eager to silence them as it uses their bodies to project cultural fears and myths.
Last year, when her novel was published, Stark shared in a chat with Recovering the Self that she has a personal connection with Minnesota, particularly its state fair. In her words, “The Minnesota State Fair figures prominently in this book, a place I’ve gone to many times since I was a young girl.”
Chris Stark elaborated on the element of contrast in her story that derives from the comparison of carnival lights, and the carnival-like atmosphere of urban life, and the lights from the stars and how stars figure into Ojibwe culture. Her book contributes to the broader cause of literary awareness as indigenous voices, past and present, are being heard.
Read the complete list of 2022 NEMBA winners at this link.
. Stark’s book Carnival Lights has been declared the winner in the Fiction category at NEMBA. Carnival Lights tells the engaging story of cultural survival through the eyes of two teenage Ojibwe […])
