Neustadt Course

Fall 2025 Neustadt Course: Cherie Dimaline

ENGL/MLLL 4883/5883
NAS 4970/5970
Prof. Laura Harjo (harjo@ou.edu)

The Neustadt seminar provides a unique opportunity to study the work of internationally bestselling First Nations writer Cherie Dimaline (b. 1975). Dimaline, winner of the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s & Young Adult Literature, is headlining this fall’s Neustadt Lit Fest at OU (October 20–22, 2025). Students will have VIP access to Dimaline and other visiting writers/scholars/translators during the festival.

The course, sponsored by World Literature Today and taught by Dr. Laura Harjo, chair of the Department of Native American Studies at OU, will be an opportunity for students to read and discuss the work of an important contemporary Indigenous writer.

Attendance and participation are required at all Neustadt Lit Fest events, either in-person or afterward by watching the videos on WLT’s YouTube channel.

WLT will provide enrolled students with complimentary copies of the required books. Other readings will be shared via Canvas.

Schedule

The class meets Mondays 5:00–7:45pm on Zoom (sync)
The Neustadt Festival dates are October 20–22

Possible Scholarships for Students Enrolled in This Course

To apply for a scholarship to cover the cost of tuition for the course, visit the Neustadt Scholarship Application page, fill out the application, and ask one of your professors to write a brief letter of recommendation. The letter of recommendation can be emailed to Terri Stubblefield (tdstubb@ou.edu) or dropped off at Monnet 110. Deadline for scholarship applications: Monday, August 11, 2025, 5pm CDT. Decisions will be announced by August 18.

About Cherie Dimaline

Cherie Dimaline is an internationally bestselling author. Her 2017 book The Marrow Thieves was named by Time magazine one of the Best YA Books of All Time and won the Governor General’s Award and the Kirkus Prize. Her novel Empire of Wild  became an instant Canadian bestseller, was named Indigo’s 2019 Best Book, and is being adapted into an opera. Hunting by Stars was a 2022 American Indian Library Association Honor Book, and her new novel, Venco, debuted at #1 on Canadian bestseller lists. Other 2023 titles include Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Anthology of Monsters, and Into the Bright Open. Cherie lives in her Georgian Bay Métis community and writes/produces for screen and stage.