Convocation: Luci Tapahonso

Luci Tapahonso is an award-winning Navajo poet and short story author. Navajo was her first language but she learned English before starting school at the Navajo Methodist Mission in Farmington, New Mexico. She majored in English at the University of New Mexico, as an undergraduate and a graduate student, and is now Professor of English at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she teaches Poetry Writing and American Indian Literature. She is the author of three children’s books and five books of poetry. She structures prose and poetry that are mixtures of family stories, Navajo culture and legendary tales. Utilizing many of the same storytelling techniques used by many Native American writers, she highlights aspects of her life that are important to her and has shaped the woman she is today. Unlike most Native American writers, however, Tapahonso’s writing is a translation from original work she has created in her tribe’s native tongue. Her work includes original songs and chants designed for performance. For this reason, her English work is strongly rhythmic and uses syntactical structures unusual in English language poetry. The title of her presentation was "A Radiant Curve: Stories and Poems."