Voices from Four Directions

Brian Swann is on the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. His many works include Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America.

Praise for Brian Swann's previous anthology Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America: "This is by far the best anthology of translations from Native American oral traditions ever published... [Swann's] deft editorial touch maintains the rich and challenging cultural distances represented in these lively stories and songs while making them all accessible enough to engage a very wide American reading audience."oChoice. "The largesse of accumulated wisdom, good sense, and grappling intelligence contained within its pages offers the reader an ample reward."oMinneapolis Star Tribune. "Coming to Light offers a copious, easily accessible starting point for anyone interested in reading and learning about Native American narratives and poetry."oNew York Times Book Review. "Brian Swann is one of the world's foremost authorities and gatherers of Native American materials."oSan Jose Mercury News. "[A] splendid anthology of story and song... Blending deep respect with critical acumen, Coming to Light teaches us to read Native texts as instances of the struggle to understand and be understood that is implicit in all cultural expression."oChicago Tribune. "An extraordinary book, a work that displays almost the full range of Native American literatures and does so with responsibility, authority, and brilliance."oLos Angeles Times. "Swann's edition should be considered a valuable assessment of ethnopoetics, and will prove both challenging and rewarding to the beginning Native American Studies student and to those general readers who have an interest in Native literature."oWorld Literature Today