Oakland writer Tommy Orange is one of 22 people selected this year to receive a MacArthur Fellowship — an $800,000 no-strings-attached cash prize paid out over the course of five years.

Known colloquially as the “genius awards,” the fellowships are given to celebrate, and help fund the creative pursuits of, outstanding individuals working in any field.

Born and raised in Oakland, where much of his work is set, Orange is best known for his two novels, 2018’s There There and 2024’s Wandering Stars , both of which weave together large casts of Native characters who grapple with both historical, intergenerational trauma as well as urban, contemporary struggles like opioid addiction. KQED’s review of Wandering Stars praised the novel for its moral clarity and the way it shows how

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