Alexie Interview in Iowa Review

What struck me about this interview was how Alexie mentioned how Indians are not environmentalist. They are just as wasteful as any other American. Being an environmentalist is a luxury. I guess associating nature with Indians is a myth. I had this stereotype in my head, until I read this interview. Something else that caught my attention was when Alexie mentioned he would rather write about people than a tree. It was funny when he mentioned how poems about trees have been done a thousand times. When I thought of Indian writers, I imagined that they would write about trees and nature, so it was refreshing when Alexie said it does not interest him. Alexie also brought up the point that although there are many praised Indian writers, Indians still do not have their own Hemmingway, Dickens, or Shakespeare writers like white people do. Even though I am not familiar with Indian writers, I have not heard of any Indian writer famous enough to be compared to these great writers, thus I believe this to be true. Alexie hopes this will change, and I think in time it will too.