|
Back to the
Honoring Authors main page
 Luci Tapahonso
Luci Tapahonso is a Navajo poet and
lecturer in Native American Studies. She was born in Shiprock, New
Mexico, and was raised on a farm located within the largest Indian
reservation in the United States. Tapahonso’s first language is
Diné, the Navajo language, which is often used in her poetry.
Luci learned English before starting school
at the Navajo Methodist Mission in Farmington, New Mexico. She went on
to receive her B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from the University of
New Mexico. While still an undergraduate, Tapahonso published her first
collection of poetry. In the following decade, Tapahonso published some
of her best-known collections of poems and stories, including Sáanii Dahataal (the women are
singing) and Blue Horses Rush
In. In 1995, Tapahonso wrote her first children’s book, Navajo ABC: A Dine Alphabet Book
and followed it in 1999 with Songs
of Shiprock Fair. Tapahonso’s writing is often a
translation from original work she has created in the Navajo language,
including songs and chants intended for performance.
Currently, Tapahonso is a professor of English at
the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she teaches poetry writing
and American Indian literature. Luci was awarded Native Writers’ Circle
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
top
Related Links:
The
Literacy Encyclopedia
An
article about Luci in Indian Country Today
Page
from the Arizona Book Festival
Luci’s
books on Amazon.com
“Remember
the Things They Told Us,” by Luci Tapahonso
“Just
Past Shiprock,” By Luci Tapahonso
Biography and
anthology
Some of Luci Tapahonso's Works:
Navajo ABC
Songs of Shiprock Fair
Blue Horses Rush In
top
Back to the Honoring Authors main page
|
