David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is the author of Winter Counts, which received 12 literary awards in the United States and England and was nominated for a literary prize in France. The book was translated into five languages, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, an Indie Next pick, a main selection of the Book of the Month Club, and was named a Best Book of the year by NPR, Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Guardian, and other magazines.
He has short stories in the anthologies Denver Noir, Midnight Hour, Never Whistle at Night, and The Perfect Crime. His nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, Shenandoah, and Writer’s Digest. Weiden’s Fellowships include the PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship, MacDowell, Ucross, Ragdale, and Tin House.
He’s professor of Native American Studies and Political Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver and lives in Colorado with his family.
At MacDowell in 2018, he completed Winter Counts and wrote a nonfiction article, "Carlisle Longings," about Native American boarding schools. In 2022, he worked on his novel Wisdom Corner, the sequel to Winter Counts.
