Native American Authors

Luci Tapahonso , 1953-

Navajo

Luci Tapahonso 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. She has taught as assistant professor of English at University of New Mexico and the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Tapahonso has served on the Board of Directors at the Phoenix Indian Center, 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 memeber of the Modern Language Association, Poets and Writers, Inc., Association of American Indian and Alaska Native Professors, and New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities.

Awards and Honors

1.Southwestern Assoc. Indian Affairs Literature Fellowship, 1981
2.Excellent Instructor Award, U. of New Mexico, 1985
3.New Mexico Eminent Scholar award, New Mexico Commission of Higher Education, 1989
4. Award for Best Poetry from the Mountains and Plain's Booksellers Association, 1998
5. Wordcraft Circle Storyteller of the Year (Readings/Performance) Award, 1999

 

Online resources by or about Luci Tapahonso:

Artist: Luci Tapahonso
Author: Canku Ota
Type: authorbio
Description: An article about Luci Tapahonso from the 4/7/01 issue of Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America.
URL: http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues01/Co04072001/CO_04072001_Shiprock.htm

Better to Avoid Her by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Seasonal Woman.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/poems/drunk/drunk6.html

The Canyon was Serene
Author: Luci Tapahonso
Type: etext
Description: A poem by Tapahonso published in the Winter 1999 edition of the scholarly journalweber studies: voices and viewpoints of the contemporary west. Includes a photo of Tapahonso.
URL: http://weberstudies.weber.edu/archive/Vol.%2016.2/lucitapahonso.html

A Discreet Conversation by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from A Breeze Swept Through.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/poems/drunk/drunk3.php3

Hard to Take by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Seasonal Woman.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/poems/bordertowns/bordertowns0.html

Her Daughter's Eyes by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Seasonal Woman.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/poems/drunk/drunk5.html

Hills Brothers Coffee by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/hillsbrothers.html

In 1864 by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/1864.html

It Has Always Been This Way by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/always.html

Light a Candle by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/poems/drunk/drunk9.html

Luci Tapahonso
Author: Luci Tapahonso, Karen Strom
Type: authorbio
Description: Biographical and bibliographical information on Luci Tapahonso. Includes b&w photo of the author.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/

Luci Tapahonso
Author: Amy McNally
Type: authorbio
Description: This page is part of a series from Voices from the Gaps: Women Writers of Color produced by the Department of English and Programs in American Studies at the University of Minnesota. Included is an in-depth biography, selected bibliography and related links.
URL: http://voices.cla.umn.edu/authors/LuciTapahonso.html

Outside a Small House by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso, from the book Saanii Dahataal The Women are Singing.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/outside.html

Pay Up Or Else by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Seasonal Woman.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/poems/bordertowns/bordertowns1.html

Prayer by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Seasonal Woman.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/prayer.html

A Rough Life by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Seasonal Woman.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/poems/drunk/drunk7.html

Shaa Ako Dahjinileh : Remember the Things They Told Us by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/remember.html

She Sits on the Bridge by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from the anthology Earth Power Coming, edited by Simon Ortiz.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/bridge.html

These Long Drives by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/drives.html

They Are Silent and Quick by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/silentandquick.html

They Are Together Now by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from A Breeze Swept Through.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/together.html

What Danger We Court by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/danger.html

A Whispered Chant of Loneliness by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/luci/poems/whisper.html

Who Were You? by Luci Tapahonso
Author: Karen Strom
Type: etext
Description: Full text of the poem by Luci Tapahonso from A Breeze Swept Through.
URL: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/poems/drunk/drunk4.html

Books by Luci Tapahonso:

Tapahonso, Luci. Blue horses rush in
Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 1997.
Genre: Poetry
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0816517274

Tapahonso, Luci. A breeze swept through
Albuquerque, NM : West End Press, 1989.
Genre: Poetry
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0931122457 (pbk.)

Tapahonso, Luci. Navajo ABC : a Dine alphabet book
New York : Macmillan Books for Young Readers, 1995.
Genre: Poetry and fiction
Audience: All Ages
ISBN: 0816513511

Tapahonso, Luci. One more Shiprock night : poems
San Antonio, Tex. : Tejas Art Press, 1981.
Genre: Poetry
Audience: Adult

Tapahonso, Luci. Saanii Dahataal, the women are singing : poems and stories
Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 1993.
Genre: Poetry / Short Stories
Language: English and Navajo
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0816513619

Tapahonso, Luci. Seasonal woman
Santa Fe, NM : Tooth of Time Books, 1982.
Genre: Poetry
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0940510049

Tapahonso, Luci. Songs of shiprock fair
Walnut, CA : Kiva Publishing, Inc., 1999.
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Youth
ISBN: 1885772114

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