Eric Gansworth on My Good Man: Young Adult Fiction

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In Eric Gansworth’s newest novel, My Good Man, Brian, a 20-something reporter on the Niagara Cascade’s City Desk, is navigating life as the only Indigenous writer in the newsroom, and being lumped into reporting on stereotypical stories that homogenize his community, the nearby Tuscarora reservation. But when a mysterious roadside assault lands Tim, the brother of Brian’s mother’s late boyfriend in the hospital, Brian must pick up the threads of a life that he’s abandoned. The resulting narrative takes us through Brian’s childhood and slice-of-life stories on the reservation, in Gansworth’s signature blend of crystal sharp, heartfelt literary realist prose. But perhaps more importantly, it takes us through Brian’s attempt to balance himself between Haudenosaunee and American life, between the version of his story that would prize the individual over all else and the version of himself that depends on the entire community’s survival. Moderated by Joan Chrissos, writer and award-winning editor at the Miami Herald. Grades 9-12

In partnership with

Gansworth, Eric

Eric Gansworth, S˙ha-weñ na-saeˀ (Onondaga, Eel Clan), is a writer and visual artist who born and raised in the Tuscarora Nation. His previous books include the YA book Apple: (Skin to the Core), the novels If I Ever Get Out of Here, Extra Indians, and Smoke Dancing: A Novel; and the poetry collection A Half-Life of Cardio-Pulmonary Function: Poems and Paintings (The Iroquois and Their Neighbors). His work has received a Printz Honor Award, American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award, PEN Oakland Award, and American Book Award, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. With My Good Man (Levine Querido), Gansworth makes the tried-and-true genre of the “bildungsroman” seem a novel. Brian, a 20-something reporter from the nearby Tuscarora reservation, is the only Indigenous writer in the newsroom on the Niagara Cascade’s city desk. But when a mysterious roadside assault lands Tim, the brother of Brian’s mother’s late boyfriend, in the hospital, Brian must pick up the threads of a life he abandoned. The narrative then takes us through his childhood and stories on the reservation. Perhaps more importantly, it takes us through Brian’s attempt to balance himself between Haudenosaunee and American life.

Chrissos, Joan

Joan Chrissos is a writer and award-winning editor at the Miami Herald who was a key part of the paper’s 2022 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for producing the stories of the 98 people who died in the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida. She was named the 2022 Florida Editor of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists for her work in the Surfside condo collapse, as well as overseeing the Herald’s coverage of COVID-19 and education, both K-12 and higher education. Chrissos started her journalism career as a reporter, covering local governments, business and finance, and writing a weekly column on the media. She will be at Miami Book Fair 2022 for a conversation with writer and visual artist Eric Gansworth, who was born and raised in the Tuscarora Nation, as he presents his latest novel, My Good Man (Levine Querido), in which the main character happens to be the only Indigenous writer in his newsroom’s city desk.

Eric Gansworth on My Good Man: Young Adult Fiction