Laura Tohe

Laura Tohe (born 1952) is a Native American author and poet.[1] She is poet laureate of the Navajo Nation for 2015–2019,[2] and is a professor emerita of English at Arizona State University.[3]

Laura Tohe
Born1952 (age 68–69)
NationalityNavajo, America
EducationUniversity of New Mexico, University of Nebraska (MA, Phd - Creative Writing and Literature)
Notable awardsFestival of Words Writers Award (2019)

Tohe was born in Fort Defiance, Arizona, the daughter of a Navajo code talker.[2] She grew up speaking both Diné bizaad/Navajo language and English and was punished in school for speaking her native language due to assimilation.[4] She earned a B.A. from the University of New Mexico in 1975, an M.A. from the University of Nebraska in 1985, and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska in 1993. She has been affiliated with Arizona State University since 1994.[5]

Books

Tohe's books include:

  • Making Friends with Water (Nosila Press, 1986)
  • No Parole Today (West End Press, 1999)[6]
  • Tséyi' / Deep in the Rock: Reflections on Canyon de Chelly (with photographer Stephen E. Strom, University of Arizona Press, 2005)[7]
  • Code Talker Stories (Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2012)[8]

Librettos

Tohe's librettos include:

  • Slayer, A Navajo Oratorio (With M. Grey, Naxos Digital Services US Inc. 2009)[9]

Awards
  • "Tseyi, Deep in the Rock" won the Glyph Award for Best Poetry (2007)[10]
  • Navajo Nation Poet Laureate (2017) [11]

References
  1. McClinton-Temple, Jennifer; Velie, Alan (2010), "Tohe, Laura", Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature, Infobase Publishing, pp. 361–362, ISBN 9781438120874
  2. White, Kaila (December 23, 2015), "Navajo Nation poet laureate Laura Tohe", Amazing Arizonans, The Arizona Republic
  3. Laura Tohe, Arizona State University, retrieved 2018-07-05
  4. Burroway, Janet (2014). A Story Larger than My Own. London: University of Chicago Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-226-01410-4.
  5. Curriculum vitae, retrieved 2018-07-05
  6. Webster, Anthony K. (June 2010), "Imagining Navajo in the Boarding School: Laura Tohe's No Parole Today and the Intimacy of Language Ideologies", Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 20 (1): 39–62, doi:10.1111/j.1548-1395.2010.01047.x
  7. Orr, Delilah G. (Spring 2008), "Review of Tséyi", Studies in American Indian Literatures, Series 2, 20 (1): 90–92, JSTOR 20737415
  8. Wilson, Suzanne (November 30, 2017), "Code Talker 101: ASU professor, storyteller offers insight on history", ASU Now
  9. "GREY, M.: Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio (S. Hendricks, Phoenix Symphony, M. Christie) - 8.559604". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  10. Murphree, Daniel. (2012). Native America : a State-by-State Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-38127-0. OCLC 1058332562.
  11. Foundation, Poetry (2020-03-09). "ASU Professor, Laura Tohe, Becomes Navajo Nation Poet Laureate by Harriet Staff". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.