November 12, 2003

Novel of Mandan Indian Life Published In German

The German edition of “Grass Heart,” the novel of Mandan Indian life by poet Marnie Walsh, has been published by Oesch Verlag in Zurich under the title “Grasherz.” Published in 2001 by the University of New Mexico Press and in Canada by the University of British Columbia Press, “Grass Heart” was edited and agented by Tom Trusky, a Boise State University professor of English and editor of Walsh’s Ahsahta Press volume, “A Taste of the Knife,” now in its fourth printing. Ahsahta Press is a not-for-profit literary publication of Boise State, founded to preserve the best works by early poets of the American West, including many underpublished women poets. When Walsh died in late 1996, the children of the South Dakotan poet and novelist discovered manuscripts for two unpublished novels in their mother’s effects. Her first novel, “Grass Heart,” had been completed but had been set aside when her husband became gravely ill. The book covers the saga of the Mandan princess Grass Heart and encompasses over a half-century of Plains Indian history (approximately 1800-1860). -30- Contact Tom Trusky Department of English 208 426-1999 Media Contact Kathleen Craven communications and marketing 208 426-3275