Going to Water: A Writer’s Search for the Cherokee Literary Form with Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

In “Going to Water: A Writer’s Search for the Cherokee Literary Form,” award-winning author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle explores the evolution of Cherokee literature and the contemporary efforts to rematriate storytelling practices rooted in Cherokee culture and values. 

She will discuss how Cherokee writers and artists are using Cherokee cultural knowledge and the seven core Cherokee values to inform artistic choices, such as structure, style, and narrative. These methods diverge from Western canonical literature and classic Euro-American art forms.

This event is free and open to the public; however, registration is encouraged. Register Here

“Going to Water: A Writer’s Search for the Cherokee Literary Form” is the second event in the “Rising Waters: Writing Place and Environment” Thomas Howerton Professorship lecture series presented by the UNC Asheville English Department. This three-year series features humanities scholars in conversation with natural sciences scholars about issues affecting us all. 

About Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle:

Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle is an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and lives in Cherokee, North Carolina. A graduate of Yale University and the College of William & Mary, Clapsaddle is the author of Even As We Breathe (UPK, 2020), the first novel published by an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. The novel was a finalist for the Weatherford Award, winner of the 2021 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, and named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020.

Her first novel manuscript, Going to Water, won the Morning Star Award for Creative Writing from the Native American Literature Symposium (2012) and was a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction (2014). Clapsaddle’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Atlantic, Salvation South, Bon Appétit, and Travel + Leisure.

Clapsaddle’s recent and upcoming contributions appear in What Things Cost: An Anthology for the People (UPK, 2023), Troublesome Rising: A Thousand Year Flood in Eastern Kentucky (UPK, 2024), and The Devil’s Done Come Back: New Ghost Tales from North Carolina (Blair, 2025).

In partnership with the Museum of the Cherokee People, she launched Confluence: An Indigenous Writers’ Workshop Series, bringing Indigenous authors to the Qualla Boundary to mentor emerging writers.

Clapsaddle currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina Writers’ Network, the Board of Directors for the Museum of the Cherokee People and is an editor for the University Press of Kentucky’s Appalachian Futures series. In 2025, she was named Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence at Shepherd University.

Accessibility

UNC Asheville is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. If you have any questions about access or to request reasonable accommodations that will facilitate your full participation in this event, such as ASL interpreting, captioned videos, Braille, or electronic text, please contact Heather L. Lindkvist, assistant vice chancellor for institutional integrity and access, hlindkvi@unca.edu or 828.232.5658.

Advance notice is necessary to arrange for accessibility needs. All requests must be made ten business days prior to the event. We will attempt to implement late requests, but we cannot guarantee they will be met.

Parking

All visitors must adhere to the University’s parking policy. Please visit the UNC Asheville Visitor Parking Permit Registration site to acquire a visitor permit to park on campus.