Storyteller is a collection of works, including photographs, poetry, and short stories by Leslie Marmon Silko. It is her second published book, following Ceremony. The work is a combination of stories and poetry inspired by traditional Laguna Pueblo storytelling.[1] Silko's writings in Storyteller are influenced by her upbringing in Laguna, New Mexico, where she was surrounded by traditional Laguna Pueblo values but was also educated in a Euro-American system.[2] Her education began with kindergarten at a Bureau of Indian Affairs school called the Laguna Day School "where the speaking of the Laguna language was punished."[2]
Silko primarily focuses on the Laguna Pueblo in Storyteller; however, she also draws influence from Inuit culture, which she experienced when she resided in Alaska's Rosewater Foundation-on-Ketchikan Creek while writing Ceremony.[3]
Many of the poems and short stories collected in Storyteller have been reprinted, and several were published previously.[4] The book itself has been published three times between 1981 and 2012.
