Morgan Talty, a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation, is the author of the Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit. A National Book Foundation 5 under 35 Honoree, Talty’s work takes its place in the canon of great Native American literature while also interrogating our culture’s eagerness to categorize marginalized voices.

“So many people who go to Native literature, or any type of literature by minorities, who are looking to read some indigenous fiction, they go to the page with, perhaps, some expectations about what it should be based off of what they’ve grown up thinking…We expect to see a performative Native, because indigenous people have had to sell themselves and perform for a long time to survive.”

―Morgan Talty

Talty’s new critically-acclaimed novel Fire Exit “cements his status as a writer to watch” (Harpers Bazaar). Charles, a white man, confronts a lost childhood on the Penobscot reservation, a love affair cut short, and the death of his beloved Native stepfather. When his Penobscot girlfriend learns she is pregnant, she decides to claim another man is the father so the child will qualify for tribal membership. Increasingly haunted by his past, Charles wrestles with the secret and what effect its reveal will have on his grown daughter’s life. Finalist for the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and longlisted for the 2025 Carnegie Medal, PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, and Aspen Words Literary Prize, Fire Exit is a masterful and unforgettable story of family, legacy, bloodlines, culture and inheritance, and what, if anything, we owe one another.

“Tender and heartbreaking… sweetened with touches of humor, the novel raises important questions about human connection and belonging.”

―Booklist (starred review)

Talty’s national bestselling debut story collection Night of the Living Rez is an unforgettable portrayal of an Indigenous community and marked the arrival of a standout talent in contemporary fiction. In twelve riveting and interconnected stories, Talty—with searing humor, abiding compassion, and deep insight—examines the consequences and merits of inheritance, and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy. A boy unearths a jar that holds an old curse, which sets into motion his family’s unraveling; a man, while trying to swindle some pot from a dealer, discovers a friend passed out in the woods, his hair frozen into the snow; a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s projects the past onto her grandson; and two friends, inspired by Antiques Roadshow, attempt to rob the tribal museum for valuable root clubs.

Night of the Living Rez won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, American Academy of Arts & Letters Sue Kaufman Prize, and the New England Book Award. The collection was named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, NPR, Esquire, Oprah Daily, and more, and was a finalist for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the Story Prize, and the Barnes & Noble Discover Book Prize.

“This is a collection where… everything small is connected to something bigger, something powerful. And in revealing those connections, Talty forms a rich and vast picture of what it is to be alive, with stunning clarity, empathy and unwavering honesty.”

―The New York Times

In his writing and presentations, Talty focuses on the intersection of effective and responsible storytelling, the importance of academic and creative writing, and human rights and sovereignty—often citing historical context, current issues, and case studies—especially those seen in indigenous narratives.

His writing has appeared in Esquire, Granta, The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, TriQuarterly, Narrative Magazine, LitHub, and elsewhere. A winner of the 2021 Narrative Prize, Talty’s work has been supported by the Elizabeth George Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts (2022). A Prose Editor at The Massachusetts Review, Talty is an Assistant Professor of English in Creative Writing and Native American and Contemporary Literature at the University of Maine, Orono, and he is on the faculty at the Stonecoast MFA in creative writing as well as the Institute of American Indian Arts. He lives with his family in Levant, Maine.