'Writing poetry
in Navajo supports revitalizing our language and recitation of our
oral tradition'
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Laura Tohe is one of
23 recepients of the 2020 Poet Laureate Fellowship awarded
by the Academy of American Poets. (Photo/J. Morgan Edwards)
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FLAGSTAFF, AZ Laura Tohe of the Navajo Nation
is among 23 recipients of the Academy of American Poets' 2020
Poet Laureate Fellowship, a distinction that comes with a $50,000
grant for civic poetry programs.
Tohe, who is Sleepy-Rock People clan and born for
the Bitter Water People clan, grew up at the base of the Chuska
Mountains in Crystal, New Mexico, and currently lives in Phoenix.
She is Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation, a professor
emerita with distinction at Arizona State University and the author
of several books and librettos, including "Tseyí / Deep
in the Rock," "No Parole Today," "Making Friends with Water,"
"Code Talker Stories" and most recently, "Nahasdzaan in the Glittering
World."
The fellowship recipients were announced Thursday.
Tohe plans to use her fellowship to teach writing
and poetry throughout rural communities and schools on the Navajo
Nation.
She views poetry as a key tool for language revitalization.
"According to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization), the Navajo language is
listed as vulnerable, so writing poetry in Navajo supports revitalizing
our language and recitation of our oral tradition," her fellowship
statement of purpose reads.
It is the second year of the Academy of American
Poet's fellowship program, which was expanded from 13 recipients
in 2019 to 23 in 2020. The program has received $4.5 million in
funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, making it the country's
largest financial supporter of poets, according to the academy.
This year, the community-based program is facing
interesting challenges as COVID-19 continues to impact the nation.
However, Tohe aims to work around pandemic-related
obstacles by hosting workshops for Navajo students via Zoom and
other online mediums.
"As we face the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic,
more and more people are turning to poetry for comfort and courage,"
said Jennifer Benka, president and executive director of the Academy
of American Poets. "We are honored and humbled in this moment
of great need to fund poets who are talented artists and community
organizers, who will most certainly help guide their communities
forward."
Meghan Fate Sullivan, Koyukon Athabascan, is
a Stanford Rebele Fellow for Indian Country Today. She grew up
in Alaska, and is currently reporting on her home state from our
Anchorage Bureau.