Library to host Pulitzer Prize finalist

ROSEBURG, Ore. – Roseburg Public Library invites the community to a Facebook Live streaming event with Oregon journalist and essayist Sierra Crane Murdoch at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17.

Roseburg Library Director Kris Wiley said she added Murdoch to her must-read nonfiction list after devouring the writer’s debut book, “Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country,” which was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.

Murdoch framed the book around Lissa Yellow Bird, an Arikara woman who sees the changes that the North Dakota oil boom has on her homeland, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, just after the great recession, when fracking alters the landscape, mostly non-Native workers throng for new jobs and backdoor deals implicate tribal politicians.

When Yellow Bird learns about the disappearance of oil worker Kristopher (KC) Clarke, she becomes obsessed with the case. But her determination isn’t just to find answers for Clarke’s mother. It’s also to make up for Yellow Bird’s own mistakes – drug addiction, prison and estrangement from her children.

“Yellow Bird” is a captivating combination of true crime, biography and journalism, said Wiley, who highly recommends the audiobook narrated by Murdoch. The book or an ebook also may be available for checkout at Roseburg Public Library in advance of the event.

Murdoch’s writing has appeared on “This American Life” and “The New Yorker” website, and in “Harper’s,” “The Atlantic,” “Orion” magazine and “High Country News,” where she was a contributing editor. Learn more about Murdoch and read some of her other work at www.sierramurdoch.com.

To view the live stream, go to www.facebook.com/roseburglibrary. A Facebook account is not required.

Wiley will moderate a Q&A session following Murdoch’s presentation. Those who have a Facebook account may post questions during the event by commenting on the live stream. Questions may be submitted before the event at library@cityofroseburg.org or 541-492-7051.