10 Facts About Luci Tapahonso

Luci Tapahonso was born on November 8,1953 and is a Navajo poet and a lecturer in Native American Studies.

Luci Tapahonso is the first poet laureate of the Navajo Nation, succeeded by Laura Tohe.

English was not spoken on the family farm, and Luci Tapahonso learned it as a second tongue after her native Navajo.

Luci Tapahonso embarked on a career as a journalist and investigative reporter before beginning her studies at the University of New Mexico in 1976.

Luci Tapahonso initially intended to study journalism at New Mexico, but Silko convinced her to change her major to creative writing.

In 1983, Luci Tapahonso gained her MA in Creative Writing, and she proceeded to teach, first at New Mexico and later at the University of Kansas, the University of Arizona, and the University of New Mexico.

Silko helped Luci Tapahonso publish her first story, "The Snake Man", in 1978.

Luci Tapahonso frequently uses her family and childhood friends in her poetry.

In 2008 Luci Tapahonso published A Radiant Curve, which won the Arizona Book Award for Poetry in 2009.

Luci Tapahonso's writing, unlike many Native American writers, is a translation from original work she has created in her tribe's native tongue.