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This event will be held at the Icardo Center on CSUB Campus. Join us for a Book Talk by Deborah Jackson Taffa the author of the 2025 One Book Project book title selection, Whiskey Tender: A Memoir w/ Q&A and Book Signing. Free and Open to the Public.About the Author
Deborah Taffa is a citizen of the Quechan (Yuma) Nation and Laguna Pueblo. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Prior to her job at IAIA, she taught Creative Nonfiction at Webster University and Washington University in Saint Louis. She also served as an Executive Board Member with the Missouri Humanities Council where she was instrumental in creating a Native American Heritage Program in the state. With awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, MacDowell, Hedgebrook, the Ellen Meloy Foundation, Tin House, A Public Space, the Kranzberg Arts, and the NY Summer Writers Institute, Deborah is currently working on her second story collection.
About the Book
Whiskey Tender is a memoir of family and survival, coming-of-age on and off the reservation, and of the frictions between mainstream American culture and Native inheritance and reverence for tradition. Taffa examines identity, resilience, family history, and the lasting impact of assimilation policies on Native communities.
A 2024 National Book Award Finalist, Whiskey Tender was a 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction longlisted title. A winner of the Southwest Book Award and named one of 2024’s Top 10 books by The Atlantic, Audible, and Time Magazine. Whiskey Tender was also included on best and notable lists at The New Yorker, Elle, Esquire, NPR, The Washington Post, Oprah Daily, and Publisher’s Weekly. Its debut was an Amazon Editor’s Best Choice Book for the year.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
California State University, Bakersfield, United States
