Writer & editor.
“Epic in scope and meticulous in the telling, this is a thoroughly considered, consummately rendered and timely testament to immigrant life and hard-scrabble existence in the face of avaricious progress and covetous venture. A compelling, evocative and ambitious paean to the human spirit and togetherness; to grit and defiance and resilience; to the scrape and chisel to be from a place.”
—Alan McMonagle, author of Ithaca and Laura Cassidy’s Walk of Fame“Readers who love stories about extraordinary women, the histories of labor, Irish Immigrant stories, and the American West will love The Sleepers!”
—Sarah Valentine, PhD, author of When I Was White: A Memoir, and Decoding the Devil: Black Women and The Secret War Against Stalin’s Bomb
“A beautifully inviting, immersive portrait. Sturdevant excels at showing how economic hardship, labor organization, and family bonds intersect in the daily lives of working people. It feels personal. She is one of the most talented storytellers of our generation.”
—Shannon O’Neill, Chicago playwright and winner of The Jeff Award for Best New Work: The Kelly Girls
“Reads like a painting; beautiful dialogue, tensions hang over this novel like icicles.”
—James Walsh, University of Colorado Denver, Professor of Political Science
The image above is an original map of a highly productive silver mine in Leadville, Colorado, 1860-1910. This mine was an unusually complex network of shafts and tunnels named for the legendary Irish hero Robert Emmet. The ‘Emmet’ was operated and maintained by miners and pump engineers with mainly Irish roots, alongside Cornish, Finnish, and Mexican miners, and miners from the American South and Midwest.
Underground, their shift was 10 hours for 3$. Above ground, they organized to form a union.
The archival records of their community became the basis for my novel ‘The Sleepers,’ available for PREORDER now.
Photo credit: author’s photo of the John Campion Papers and Blueprints. Rare and Distinctive Collections: Western Federation of Union Miners. Norlin Library, University of Colorado Boulder.