On Second Thought: A Compilation

by Maurice Kenny, Joseph Bruchac

As one of the earliest and strongest voices in contemporary American Indian literature, Maurice Kenny has proved himself to be very much a "high-steel" Iroquois - a Mohawk famed for scaling the heights of New York City and forging a contemporary Native American identity known nationwide. This latest collection includes old and new favorites in poetry, fiction, criticism, and political commentary, plus an unusual literary memoir of New York in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s - upstate, Manhattan, and Brooklyn - from a Native American poet's point of view.

265 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Maurice Kenny, Mohawk, was born in Watertown, NY. His work has been published in almost 100 journals, including special issues, especially on Native American writing.

In 2000, Maurice received the Elder Recognition Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers. In 1996 On Second Thought was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in fiction.

Maurice's book of poems, Blackrobe : Isaac Jogues, B. March 11, 1607, D. October 18, 1646, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, as was Between Two Rivers. He is the recipient of a National Public Radio Award for Broadcasting. His book The Mama Poems received the American Book Award in 1984. The Bloomsbury Review cited Wounds Beneath the Flesh as the best anthology of 1983.