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 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1952 (age 71–72) |
| Nationality | Navajo, America |
| Education | University of New Mexico, University of Nebraska (MA, Phd - Creative Writing and Literature) |
| Notable awards | Festival 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]
Selected works edit
Books edit
- 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 edit
- Slayer, A Navajo Oratorio (With M. Grey, Naxos Digital Services US Inc. 2009)[9]
Awards edit
References edit
- ^ McClinton-Temple, Jennifer; Velie, Alan (2010), "Tohe, Laura", Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature, Infobase Publishing, pp. 361–362, ISBN 9781438120874
- ^ a b White, Kaila (December 23, 2015), "Navajo Nation poet laureate Laura Tohe", Amazing Arizonans, The Arizona Republic
- ^ Laura Tohe, Arizona State University, retrieved 2018-07-05
- ^ Burroway, Janet (2014). A Story Larger than My Own. London: University of Chicago Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-226-01410-4.
- ^ Curriculum vitae, retrieved 2018-07-05
- ^ 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
- ^ Orr, Delilah G. (Spring 2008), "Review of Tséyi", Studies in American Indian Literatures, Series 2, 20 (1): 90–92, JSTOR 20737415
- ^ Wilson, Suzanne (November 30, 2017), "Code Talker 101: ASU professor, storyteller offers insight on history", ASU Now
- ^ "GREY, M.: Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio (S. Hendricks, Phoenix Symphony, M. Christie) - 8.559604". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- ^ Murphree, Daniel. (2012). Native America : a State-by-State Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-38127-0. OCLC 1058332562.
- ^ "ASU Professor, Laura Tohe, Becomes Navajo Nation Poet Laureate by Harriet Staff". Poetry Foundation. 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-03-09.