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We are delighted that Aaron John Curtis made time to chat with us about his new novel Old School Indian, which will publish on May 6. This debut novel has already received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Learn more about how the author’s own experiences impact the story and why he thinks libraries offer a guilt-free opportunity to read new books.
Ingram Library Services: Can you give us your elevator pitch for Old School Indian?
Aaron John Curtis: A Mohawk dude living in Miami gets diagnosed with a terminal illness, so he goes home to his Reservation on the border between New York and Canada for a healing.
ILS: What inspired this novel?
AJC: About 1.5 million people in the US have Rheumatoid Arthritis; it has identifying markers and a prescribed course of treatment. Six people have the autoimmune disorder I have, and the history on it is sparse, which means it took months to diagnose me and treatment was a lot of experimentation.
In the book, Abe complains that Johns Hopkins and the National Organization for Rare Disorders can’t even agree on a name for his condition, and this was also true of mine. All my fear and frustration came out in a short story I brought to my writers’ group, and they encouraged me to go full autofiction. While I expanded the story, an image came into my mind of an Elder winging a tomahawk like he was hitting a homerun. In writing towards that image, the narrative started to break away from my life story and my family’s stories and become its own thing, a mix of real life and fiction.
ILS: You’re a longtime bookseller and have been a judge for multiple book awards. What was unexpected about writing your own novel?
AJC: The length and back-and-forth of the editing process. For more than a year, post-sale of the manuscript, I had a new editing deadline coming up. As a bookseller, I’ve always wondered what the differences are from a bound manuscript to an ARC to a preview edition to the final book. Now I know.
ILS: There’s a rich cast of characters in Old School Indian, not least among them Abe’s poetic alter ego, Dominick Deer Woods. How did you bring Dominick to life?
AJC: The early drafts were angry and hostile towards the reader. I imagined an audience who had never thought of Native issues, and in doing so had made my protagonist’s life harder. My own fear of dying didn’t help. I started playing with point of view, then Dominick stepped in as a liminal narrator between first person and third person. Dominick was like, “How about we express these things in a way that’s not bumming everyone out?”
ILS: What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
AJC: Danzy Senna’s Colored Television. Publishing, Hollywood, financial struggles, the artistic process, motherhood, marriage – there are so many layers, and she makes it all seem effortless. As a bonus, it’s funny. Jane is a messy protagonist, and her decisions are confounding, but damn if she doesn’t make those pages fly.
ILS: What’s next?
AJC: I have a few projects I’m excited about, but I’m afraid discussing the work will make it something I talk about instead of something I do. For now, I’m going to be present and grateful during my book tour, try to channel my inner extrovert, and enjoy the ride.
ILS: Can you share a favorite memory of, or experience with, a library?
AJC: Whenever I move, the first thing I do is get a library card. I always promise myself I’m going to stop buying new books and focus on reading the books I already have, but authors keep putting out great work and foiling my plans. Libraries are a loophole in the system – I can read as many as I want without feeling guilty for my overflowing shelves.
