Margaret Verble

Margaret Verble
Born	Greenville, Kentucky, U.S.
Nationality	Cherokee Nation, American
Education	University of Kentucky (BA, MA, EdD)
Notable work	Maud's Line
Website	margaretverble.com

Margaret Verble is a Native American author and member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She is best known for her novel, Maud's Line was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.In addition to her literary career, she has worked extensively in education, consulting, and research, particularly in the field of organ donation.

Early life and education

Verble was born in Greenville, Kentucky, and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. ^[1] She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Kentucky before returning to Nashville to teach English at Hillsboro High School. She later pursued graduate studies at the University of Kentucky, earning a Master’s degree in English Education and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction. ^[2]

Career

Research and Consulting

After completing her doctorate, Verble founded Verble, Worth & Verble, Inc., a boutique consulting firm in Lexington, KY, which served clients on five different continents. She served as president of the company from 1982 to 2021.

Verble has authored numerous scholarly articles in journals such as Progress in Transplantation, Transplantation Proceedings, and The Journal of American Folklore . The majority of her research focuses on donor family concerns, consent processes, and ethical challenges in organ and tissue donation. She has also presented her findings at national and international medical conferences, And worked for nine years consulting to NHSBT in the United Kingdom on organ and tissue donation.

From 2022 onward, Verble has worked as an independent consultant, continuing her work training coordinators how to talk to grieving families about organ and tissue donation. ^[3]

Literary Work

In 2015, Verble published her debut novel, Maud’s Line, which was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. ^[4] The novel, set in the 1920s, follows Maud Nail, a young Cherokee woman navigating life on her family’s allotment in Oklahoma. ^[5]

Verble later published Cherokee America (2019), a prequel to Maud’s Line set in 1875. This novel, based on the lives of real people, explores Cherokee society after the Civil War. It won the Spur Award for Best Traditional Western, was a finalist for the Reading the West Adult Fiction Award, and was a New York TimesNotable Book of the Year. ^[5]

Verble's When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky (2021) follows a Cherokee horse-diver at the Glendale Park Zoo in 1920s Nashville. It, also, is based on the lives of real people, and was chosen by Booklist as one of the Best Novels of 2021. ^[6]

Her fourth novel, Stealing (2023), explores the forced assimilation of Native American children in boarding schools. It, too, was a finalist for the Reading the West Adult Fiction Award and was longlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award in 2024. ^{[7] [8]}

Her short fiction and essays have appeared in journals such as Arkansas Review and Whistling Shade, and she has contributed to anthologies like Native Noir.,

Awards and honors

• Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2016)
• Spur Award Winner, Best Traditional Western Novel (2020)
• Finalist, Reading the West Adult Fiction Award (2020, 2024)
• Alumnus of the Year, College of Arts and Sciences, English Department, University of Kentucky (2024)
• Martin Koke Award for dedication to the Gift of Sight Program, San Diego Eye Bank (2001)

Selected bibliography

• Maud’s Line (2015)
• Cherokee America (2019) ^[9]
• When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky (2021)
• Stealing (2023)

References

1. McCants, Cassidy (2019-02-06). "Back to the land". TulsaPeople Magazine. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
2. "A&S Alumna Named Finalist for Pulitzer Prize | University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences". english.as.uky.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
3. "Margaret Verble Ed.D. - Home". www.vwvmargaretverble.org. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
4. "September 30, 2021 - Tom Eblen - Margaret Verble by Tom Eblen | Neil Kesterson". esweku.org. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
5. Lenhardt, Melissa (2019-03-07). "'Cherokee America' Blends Family Saga, History and Melodrama". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-03-27.
6. WHEN TWO FEATHERS FELL FROM THE SKY | Kirkus Reviews.
7. Straight, Susan (2023-02-07). "A Religious Boarding School That's Actually Hell". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-03-27.
8. "Stealing by Margaret Verble". www.publishersweekly.com. January 26, 2023. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
9. Verble, Margaret (2019-02-19). "Finding Cherokee America: Deciphering My Convoluted Family History". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2025-03-20.