Hi friends,
This week on Ursa Short Fiction, Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton introduce an Ursa original production of “Snow Bath Season,” a short story written by Stacie Denetsosie, and performed by Nasheen Sleuth. This story is about Diana, a young Navajo woman whose late mother is communicating with her via an Amazon Alexa device.
Denetsosie juxtaposes modern technology with Navajo tradition in compelling ways, while also writing into grief, love, and mother-daughter relationships through humor and bizarre circumstances. “Snow Bath Season” is from Denetsosie’s debut collection, The Missing Morningstar, published by Torrey House Press. Stay tuned after the story to hear from Stacie Denetsosie herself.
Denetsosie: “While I was writing it, I really wanted to incorporate some of my own mother’s voice. And the story stemmed from an incident my mom had with an Amazon Alexa that I gave her. And I guess she was cooking in the kitchen, and she was talking to my aunt in Navajo on the phone, and the Alexa lit up, it turned blue, and it was like I can learn key phrases in your language, and my mom looked at the Alexa, and she freaked out. She’s like, oh my gosh it’s listening to me, and I thought that was so hilarious, that we have this technology that’s creeping into our lives and especially in a setting that you wouldn’t think it would. And so I asked myself, What if Amazon Alexa was a Navajo woman? What if she had a Navajo woman’s accent? What would that sound like? And I think of the Amazon Alexa as very sterile, with that monotone phrasing, like no inflection. And my mother’s voice just isn’t like that. English was her second language. And so it still very much has the flavor of our language in her English. And I really wanted that in the story.”
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“My story is, especially in the short story collection The Missing Morningstar—a lot of my narratives are women-centered. I really want to highlight especially, Indigenous women. A lot of times our stories are unheard, and we are the voices that are silenced. People expect us to be in the background, but we have very vibrant stories, even if they aren’t flashy stories. I’ve had some folks come up to me and be like, your stories are very slice of life, very common day, and I’m like, yes, because there is excitement and beauty in the mundane. And I feel like that’s where a lot of my characters thrive. And that’s where they function. And I want my readers to read my stories and stories like ‘Snow Bath Season’ and understand that my characters are carrying on even after they’re done reading the stories, and they’re still existing in the other outside world. And that’s kind of my idea of a successful story is that the characters are still living their daily lives even after the story is done.”
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Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned
- The Missing Morningstar: And Other Stories (Stacie Shannon Denetsosie, Torrey House Press, 2023)
- Crooked Hallelujah (Kelli Jo Ford)
- “I Give You Back” (Joy Harjo)
- Woman of Light (Kali Fajardo-Anstine)
- Julia Alvarez
More from Deesha and Dawnie
- The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
- The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)
Show Credits
Produced by Ursa Story Company
Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton
“Snow Bath Season” written by Stacie Denetsosie
Performed by Nasheen Sleuth
Interview by Marina Leigh
Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark Armstrong
Associate Producers: Marina Leigh & Ashawnta Jackson
Episode Editor: Kelly Araja
Special thanks to Cleyvis Natera
About the Author
Stacie Shannon Denetsosie (Diné) is Todích’íí’nii (Bitterwater Clan), born for Naakaii (Mexican Clan). She is a fiction writer and poet. Stacie is from Kayenta, Arizona, but currently resides in Northern Utah with her husband and cat. She received her Master of Fine Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts and her Master of Arts from Utah State University. Her work has appeared in Yellow Medicine Review, Phoebe Magazine, and Cut Bank, among other publications. She is a recipient of the UCROSS Native American Fellowship and the Prague Summer Program Poetry Fellowship. Torrey House Press released her debut short story collection, “The Missing Morningstar and Other Stories,” on Sept. 12, 2023. Her book “The Missing Morningstar and Other Stories” was named a 2024 Southwest Book of the Year, was a 2024 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize finalist, and a Gold Forward INDIES award winner.
About the Narrator
Nasheen Sleuth (Diné) is an actor, counselor, and mother. Her clans are: Hálts’ooí (Meadow People), born for T’ách’iníí (Red Running into the Water), her maternal grandfather is Kiiyínaaníí (Towering House) and paternal grandfather is Ashiihí (Salt People). She graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a minor in Native American Studies and later earned a Master’s in Counseling from Grand Canyon University. Known as @forwardlight on TikTok, Nasheen uses humor and awareness to educate as “Auntie Máyázhí.” Her acting credits include roles in Chasing the Light and Frybread Face & Me on Netflix. Beyond acting, she provides mental health counseling for youth, promotes health & wellness in Native communities and cares for her rescue pets, blending her love for creative arts with community care.
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About Ursa Story Company
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