Two free public events, 28-29 November

Writing Workshop:  Monday 28th, 12-2pm, University of Auckland, Arts 2,  Room 501, Pat Hannan Room.
Luci Tapahonso Reading: Tuesday 29th, 12-1pm, University of Auckland, Arts 1, Room 209.

All Welcome!
For more info, contact Selina Tusitala Marsh, s.marsh@auckland.ac.nz

Thanks to: University of Auckland School of Humanities, Academy of New Zealand Literature, in partnership with Wai-te-ata Press, Victoria University, and the Embassy of the United States of America.

Brief bio:

Luci Tapahonso (1953) was born in Shiprock, New Mexico, where she grew up on a farm within the Navajo culture. Tapahonso received her B.A. and M.A in 1980 and 1983 respectively from the University of New Mexico, where she was a Professor of English Literature and Language. Tapahonso has served on the Board of Directors at the Phoenix Indian Centre, was a member of the New Mexico Arts Commission Literature Panel, steering committee of Returning the Gift Writers Festival, Kansas Arts Commission Literature Panel, Phoenix Arts Commission, Telluride Institute Writers Forum Advisory Board, and commissioner of Kansas Arts Commission. She is a member of the Modern Language Association, Poets and Writers, Inc., Association of American Indian and Alaska Native Professors, and New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities. In 2013 she was named the inaugural poet laureate of the Navajo Nation. Tapahonso is the author of three children’s books and six books of poetry, including A Radiant Curve, which was awarded the Arizona Book Award for Poetry in 2009. Tapahonso’s work has appeared in many print and media productions in the U.S. and internationally. Her poems have been translated into German, Italian and French. She was featured in Rhino Records’ CDs, “In Their Own Voices: A Century of American Poetry” and “Poetry on Record: 98 American Poets Read Their Work” and in several PBS films. Tapahonso received the 2006 Lifetime Achievement award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas and a Spirit of the Eagle Leadership Award for her key role in establishing the Indigenous Studies Graduate Studies Program at the University of Kansas. The Native Writers Circle of the Americas named Tapahonso the 1999 Storyteller of the Year. She has also received a Kansas Governor’s Art Award, and Distinguished Woman awards from the National Association of Women in Education and the Girl Scout Council of America. She was honoured as Grand Marshal for the Northern Navajo Fair Parade (1991, 1999) in her hometown of Shiprock, New Mexico.