The Institute of American Indian Arts’ (IAIA’s) Continuing Education Department has enlisted noted poet and educator Luci Tapahonso (Navajo) to host a two-day poetry workshop on the IAIA campus June 23 and 24, 2017. Tapahonso is the inaugural Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation and a professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico (UNM).

Tapahonso was born on the Navajo reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, and was raised in a traditional way along with 11 siblings. English was not spoken on the family farm, and Tapahonso learned it as a second tongue after her native Navajo. Following schooling at Navajo Methodist School in Farmington, New Mexico, she attended Shiprock High School and graduated in 1971. She embarked on a career as a journalist and investigative reporter before beginning her studies at UNM in 1976. There she first met the novelist and poet Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo), who was a faculty member and who proved to be an important influence on Tapahonso’s early writing. She initially intended to study journalism at New Mexico, but Silko convinced her to change her major to creative writing. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1980. In 1983, Tapahonso received her Master of Arts degree in creative writing, and she proceeded to teach at the University of Kansas, the University of Arizona, and UNM.

“Luci’s work, her connection to her Diné community, and her humble energy exemplify her passion to share the oral tradition of storytelling and how this can be expressed in many forms, including through poetry,” says Joannie Romero (Cochiti Pueblo), IAIA’s continuing education manager. “We have wanted to share Luci’s work through the Continuing Education Department for some time now and I’m glad we are able to finally do so.”

In Navajo teachings, it’s said that the “sacred begins at the tip of my tongue.” What does this mean and how does it apply to poetry? In this two-day workshop, participants will explore this concept and write poems with a focus on the importance of place, family history, personal memories, and their connections to community. Participants will write in both open form and fixed form.