Everyday Poetry - "Every story I create, creates me. I write to create myself." Octavia E. Butler
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Native American/First Nations Woman Writer of the Week
NORA MARKS DAUENHAUER
Continuing on our trek through what remains of March, I offer you another Indigenous woman writer, Nora Marks Keixwnéi Dauenhauer (1927-2017), a Tlingit writer from Juneau, Alaska. Born in Juneau, Dauenhauer grew up there as well as in Hoonah, Alaska with a father who was a fisherman and carver, and a mother who was a beader. Dauenhauer lived at times with her parents on a fishing boat and in seasonal camps. Being a member of the Tlingit tribe, her first language was Łingít, and she did not learn English until she was eight.
Following her mother in the Tlingit matrilineal system, she was a member of the Raven moiety of the Tlingit nation, of the Yakutat Lukaax̱.ádi (Sockeye Salmon) clan, of the Shaka Hít or Canoe Prow House, from Alsek River. She was chosen as clan co-leader of Lukaax̱.ádi (Sockeye Salmon) in 1986 and as trustee of the Raven House and other clan property. She was then given the title Naa Tláa (Clan Mother) in 2010, becoming the ceremonial leader of the clan.
Dauenhauer earned a BA in anthropology from Alaska Methodist University in Anchorage. In the early 1970s, she married poet and Tlingit scholar Richard Dauenhauer and together they made significant contributions to preserve the Tlingit oral traditions in their Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature book series. Nora Dauenhauer became a Tlingit language researcher for the Native Language Center at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks from 1972-1973, and then became the principal researcher in language and cultural studies at the Sealaska Heritage Foundation in Juneau from 1983-1997.
On the subject of preserving the Tlingit oral tradition and its importance, Dauenhaur said:
People are now beginning to take action for language and cultural survival, and my work is to help provide inspiration and tools for this through my writing.
Dauenhauer had several accomplishments, including being named the 1980 Humanist of the Year by the Alaska Humanities Forum. Together, the Dauenhauers were awarded the Alaska Governor’s Award for the Arts, two American Book Awards, and a Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award. In 2005, Nora Dauenhauer was the recipient of the Community Spirit Award from the First People’s Fund.
As a poet, Nora Dauenhauer published two collections, one of which we hold in Special Collections, Life Woven With Song, published by the University of Arizona Press in 2000 (the other is The Droning Shaman, Black Current Press, 1989). This book recreates the oral tradition of the Tlingit people through written language in a variety of literary forms, and records memories of Dauenhauer’s heritage from old relatives and Tlingit elders, to trolling for salmon and preparing food in the dryfish camps and making a living by working in canneries.
Author Photo is by Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie
See other writers we have featured in Native American/First Nations Woman Writer of the Week.
View other posts from our Native American Literature Collection.
– Elizabeth V., Special Collections Undergraduate Writing Intern
Happy Pride!
I'm endlessly grateful to be able to make queer stories for young readers. Here's a family portrait of some of the queer characters from my books! Some you've not met yet, but will soon enough.
Cinder and Fawntine are a couple from the ESTRANGED duology!
Ebbe is from THE LEGEND OF BRIGHTBLADE!
The sepia-tinted characters are from a still-unannounced project
Agatha, Heather, and the Lady are from my upcoming graphic novel THE LADY'S FAVOR!
“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.”
- The Way of Kings
As you might expect from a couple of queer indie authors, Fell & I are going hard on the sales and promotions for Pride Month! I'll try to summarize as succinctly as possible, and remember that you can always click the links for a full synopsis ;)
Are you in the mood for...
✨ An emotional, reflective gay fantasy romance following a werewolf cowboy whose family takes in an amnesiac vampire? Fell's debut novel, Both Sides of the Moon, is on sale! You can buy a paperback for $11.99 & the ebook is on Countdown Sale June 3-7, starting at $0.99!
✨ A short and sweet sapphic contemporary fantasy read? My novella Worm in a Jar is pay what you want on Gumroad all month, so you can download it free if you'd like!
✨ A not-romantic fantasy novel with queer trans protagonists, about a demon and a demon hunter who must team up to prevent an imprending wave of violence? Our upcoming collab, Hierarchy of the Unseen, comes out June 21! It's up for preorder now, and available as an ARC on Netgalley :)
✨ The above, and also deals and/or supporting queer trans authors? This month, we're running a special offer on Patreon: all new & current patrons starting at the $4 tier will receive a free paperback of HotU (in addition to the ebook downloads, early access to our work, behind-the-scenes exclusives, and more already offered to patrons)!
✨ Finding more queer indies to support? Check out Pride SFF Reads & Read LGBTQ Authors on Bookfunnel!
I'll post about these individually in the coming weeks, but just wanted to throw it all out there at once 🖤 Reblogs appreciated! Thank you all for your support!
My post-apocalyptic Lesbian Cowgirl Mailman choose-your-own adventure has just updated! Read it here, for free on my Patreon! This is only the third installment of PART TWO, so it's still a great time to hop on board!! I just made a summary of the first part, here, which tells you basically everything you need to know about Lou, her unrequited(?) love, and the ill-advised journey she is beginning as of this update.
In the previous update, we found out (kind of) what the object of Lou's affection wrote to her in that heavily, heavily perfumed letter. In this update, she has to deal with what she learned. Her traveling companion/special delivery, Holliday, is being... quite nice? At least, comparatively? They have a bit of "And There Was Only One Bed" going on, in that they're sharing a tent made for one. That's fun, right? Sleepover!!
Excerpt under the cut!
To celebrate National Poetry Month I wanted some collections by voices that are familiar to me.
Happy National Women’s History Month 🌊 This month (and every month), we’re excited to celebrate indigenous women authors from the Pacific and beyond! 💫 Here are just a few of them:
The legendary Leslie Marmon Silko is a major figure who helped spearhead the Native American literary and artistic renaissance in the 1960s 📚
Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer holds a special place in our heart because Braiding Sweetgrass: indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants was the first book we read for our book club 🥰
Lurline Wailana McGregor’s advocacy to increase Pacific Islander programming on PBS is not only inspiring, but so necessary for younger generations to see themselves on screen 🤩
You’ve probably heard of Joy Harjo. Her expansive body of work ranges from poetry to plays to children’s books to memoirs to music. We’re excited to experience her work no matter what medium it may be in 🎙️
PS: We can’t fit them all in carousel! Who did we miss? Let us know down below! ⬇️