美国国家公共电台 NPR 'It Just Felt Very Wrong': Sherman Alexie's Accusers Go On The Record

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The #MeToo movement continues to hit the literary world. Writer Sherman Alexie recently issued a statement after rumors¹ of sexual harassment² circulated online. He admitted he had harmed others. He did not give details. But Alexie said, quote, "there are women telling the truth." And he said, to those whom I have hurt, I genuinely apologize. NPR's Lynn Neary spoke³ with some of the women who have accused Alexie of predatory behavior. And before her report, a heads up - some of you may find details in the women's accusations⁴ disturbing.

LYNN NEARY, BYLINE⁵: Sherman Alexie may not be a household name, but he's one of the country's best-known Native American poets and writers with a charismatic personality and a big following. He wrote the screenplay for the film "Smoke Signals," which is based on one of his stories. His young adult novel "The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian" won the National Book Award. In the children's book world...

ANNE URSU: Oh, he's a rock star (laughter).

NEARY: Anne Ursu is a children's book author. After the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment story broke, she decided⁶ to survey women in her field to see if they, too, had experienced such problems just as many companies, including NPR, have. Ursu's story, which she published in early February on Medium, contributed to the whisper of sexual scandal that was already building around some well-known authors, including Sherman Alexie. Ursu says some of the most popular kids books writers use their power of celebrity⁷ to seduce⁸ women.

URSU: If you are an aspiring⁹ author and you go to a reading of someone who is famous and beloved and whose work you admire and he suddenly takes an interest in you and your work and he thinks you're special and you start emailing and he wants to mentor¹⁰ you - and then suddenly it turned out all he wanted to do was have sex with you.

NEARY: The rumors about Sherman Alexie were already growing louder when about a week ago Seattle-based writer Litsa Dremousis tweeted about him, calling on women to share their stories. NPR, like other news organizations, reached out to her. She said she'd had an affair with Alexie, but they had remained friends until the stories about his sexual behavior surfaced. In his statement, Alexie denounced Dremousis. Before that, NPR had started interviewing the women she referred to us.

JEANINE WALKER: It's a story about power and abuse of power.

NEARY: Jeanine Walker is 1 of 3 women who came forward on the record. In all, 10 women shared their experiences with NPR about Alexie, who is a married man. Most of the women wanted to remain anonymous¹¹. But a clear pattern emerged. The women reported behavior ranging from inappropriate comments both in private and in public to flirting¹² that veered¹³ suddenly into sexual territory, unwanted sexual advances and consensual sexual relations that ended abruptly¹⁴. The women said Alexie had traded on his literary celebrity to lure¹⁵ them into uncomfortable sexual situations.

WALKER: Of course I was really excited. I mean, Sherman Alexie - you know, he's interested in my poems.

NEARY: Jeanine Walker, a poet and teacher, was managing a Writers in the Schools program in Seattle when she arranged to have Alexie visit a classroom. Afterwards, Alexie said he had checked out her poetry online and asked her to send him a manuscript. Alexie never got back to Walker on the poems, but they became friendly. Walker says it was strictly¹⁶ platonic¹⁷. One day they met to play basketball at a court in his office building. Afterwards, Walker says she went to change her clothes in a restroom in his office.

WALKER: When I turned around, he was right behind me and just, like, physically¹⁸ very much in my space and leaned towards me and said, can I kiss you? And I said no and backed away. And he kept moving forward and just was, like, all - you know, was laughing and smiling and kind of sweaty and whatever. And he just said, it's just we're playing basketball. You remind me of the girlfriends I had in high school. And I just said, well, we're not in high school, Sherman.

NEARY: Alexie later apologized, and Walker stayed in touch with him for a while. She sent him her poems again but never got anything but a quick comment and a promise of more to come. She says Alexie is a big deal in her hometown of Seattle.

WALKER: And he's connected to the organization I work for. And if he had never expressed an interest in my poems, I probably wouldn't have pursued spending any time with him. But he did express an interest. And so then when I discovered that interest was actually physical, it just felt very wrong.

NEARY: Erika Wurth was a 22-year-old aspiring writer when she first met Alexie. As a Native American, he was a hero to her. She hoped he might become her mentor. About a year after their first meeting, he suggested she come to one of his readings in Colorado. She went and afterwards walked back to his hotel with him. After chatting in the lobby, she started to leave.

ERIKA WURTH: And he jumps over the coffee table and begins trying to kiss me. And I just went into a state of non-reality. I had almost no sexual experience. I couldn't believe it. And he's like, come to my room.

NEARY: She did and ended up on his bed.

WURTH: He's kind of taking my clothes off and kissing me. And I'm kind of, like, stock-still. I'm trying to convince myself this is OK. It's not working. And eventually he's - you know, I say because I'm kind of scared of this situation, you know, I'm a virgin¹⁹. But it got really weird²⁰ because then, you know, he's still kind of trying to work me over, and I'm just stock-still. And I think at that point, in my opinion, he realized, like, if he wanted to have sex with me, he would have to violate me. He'd have to rape²¹ me. And he just - he did stop.

NEARY: Wurth says she stayed in touch with Alexie, hoping he would still be her mentor or at least apologize. Several years later, they had a second sexual encounter which also ended badly. Eventually he did give her a positive comment for her first book and a letter of recommendation, which she now thinks was to keep her quiet. Their relationship became contentious²², and Wurth cut ties with him, disillusioned²³ by the way he treated her.

WURTH: Never admitting what he'd done, never apologizing - and I just was like, I don't ever want to be around this guy again. I just - he's poisonous. He's not OK.

NEARY: Alexie has enormous influence on the careers of Native American writers, and Erika worries about what he may say about her to others in the business. So does Elissa Washuta. She met Alexie when she was getting ready to publish her first book and was hoping he could help her with it. She went out one night with a group of people that included Alexie. She was chatting with him when...

ELISSA WASHUTA: Seemingly apropos²⁴ of nothing, Sherman told me that he could have sex with me if he wanted to. But he used a stronger word beginning with F. I couldn't believe that somebody would say something to me like that, this older man who I didn't know, who was much more powerful than me.

NEARY: Washuta worried that other men who were with him who were all part of the local literary scene had heard him. But she didn't have the nerve to say anything about the incident at the time.

WASHUTA: I felt that I really needed his approval and I needed his help in order to get this book off the ground. And so as uncomfortable as I was, I felt that he had so much power that I should probably not make a fuss about this.

NEARY: Eventually Washuta and Alexie became colleagues at the Institute of American Indian Arts. They got along. But during a work trip, she says he tried to lure her to his hotel room. She did not go. Later, they had a disagreement over an essay of hers. Alexie implied she had plagiarized²⁵ his work, and Washuta became fearful that he would ruin her career. When she got another job, she severed²⁶ her connection with the institute because Alexie was a powerful member of the faculty²⁷.

WASHUTA: I think we did some really good work there. And I'm sure they continue to do really good work there, but I'm not a part of it. And that feels so lonely. I'm incredibly sad about it.

NEARY: As allegations against Alexie began to surface, the institute changed the name of the Sherman Alexie Scholarship to the MFA Alumni Scholarship. Sherman Alexie has not responded to NPR's multiple efforts to contact him. It is clear from his statement that he is angry at Litsa Dremousis, whose tweets prompted these women to come forward. But if he is angry, so are the women, which is why they are willing to talk. Their stories are complicated and messy as much about the power they felt he had over them as they are about sex. And how to change that power dynamic may be where the conversation has to go from here. Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF BRAMBLES' "IN THE ANDROGYNOUS DARK")

1 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

8 seduce   

vt.勾引，诱奸，诱惑，引诱

参考例句：

• She has set out to seduce Stephen.她已经开始勾引斯蒂芬了。
• Clever advertising would seduce more people into smoking.巧妙策划的广告会引诱更多的人吸烟。

9 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

10 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

11 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

12 flirting   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't take her too seriously; she's only flirting with you. 别把她太当真，她只不过是在和你调情罢了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 'she's always flirting with that new fellow Tseng!" “她还同新来厂里那个姓曾的吊膀子！ 来自子夜部分

13 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

15 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

16 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

17 platonic   

adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的

参考例句：

• Their friendship is based on platonic love.他们的友情是基于柏拉图式的爱情。
• Can Platonic love really exist in real life?柏拉图式的爱情，在现实世界里到底可能吗？

18 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

19 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

20 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

21 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

22 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

23 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

24 apropos   

adv.恰好地；adj.恰当的；关于

参考例句：

• I thought he spoke very apropos.我认为他说得很中肯。
• He arrived very apropos.他来得很及时。

25 plagiarized   

v.剽窃，抄袭( plagiarize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The poem employs as its first lines a verse plagiarized from a billboard. 这首诗开头的几行抄袭了一个广告牌上的一节诗。 来自辞典例句
• Whole passages of the work are plagiarized. 那作品整段整段都是剽窃的。 来自辞典例句

26 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。