Editions and versions
Storyteller was initially published by Seaver Books in 1981. In 1989 Richard Seaver republished Storyteller under his publishing house Arcade Publishing. Seaver was also Silko's editor for Ceremony, her preceding novel published in 1977 under Viking Press.[5] Although Seaver was known for working with authors outside of the literary establishment and challenging censorship, when working on Ceremony, he attempted to edits parts that were integral to Silko's story.[5][6] In one attempt he tried to edit the scene in which a character, Betonie, explains "it was Indian witchery that made white people in the first place," a story which is also told and elaborated upon in Storyteller.[5] Seaver also initially deleted the poem that concluded Ceremony, wanting a more conventional end to the novel.[5] However, Silko did not approve those changes, and Seaver ultimately conceded.[5] In 1989 Seaver then went on to republish the even less conventional Storyteller under Arcade Publishing, which he founded with his wife in 1988.[7]
The first version of Storyteller was oriented horizontally because Silko wanted to experiment with space, especially with her poetry. Silko notes in her "Introduction" to the Penguin version of Storyteller that she carefully considered the sizing, orientation, and space on the pages of Storyteller in order to “convey time and distance and feeling of the story as it was told aloud.”[8]
Penguin Books published Storyteller’s second edition in 2012 because they consider it a classic in Native American Literature.[1] Both editions are nine by seven inches, but the second edition is oriented vertically rather than horizontally. Despite the reduction in space, Silko notes that the “wide poems” still have enough room in the most recent edition. Because of this change in orientation, Silko had to remove and replace several photos. However, she added more photos of her family to the second edition.[8]
Genre
The Penguin Random House website categorizes Storyteller as "Poetry" and "Fiction."[9] However, as a collection, it is usually described through explaining its various mediums. In N. Scott Momoday's review of Storyteller in 1981, he calls it "a rich, many-faceted book [consisting] of short stories, anecdotes, folktales, poems, historical and autobiographical notes, and photographs."[10]
