Indigenous Poets Series: Laura Tohe

For BPL’s June Indigenous Poetry Series, Laura Tohe discusses her work.

Join this one-of-a-kind series and find the full roster of 2022 poets here.

Laura Tohe is Diné and the current Navajo Nation Poet Laureate.  She is Sleepy Rock People clan and born for the Bitter Water People clan.  She published 3 books of poetry, an anthology of Native women’s writing, and an oral history on the Navajo Code Talkers.  Her librettos, Enemy Slayer, A Navajo Oratorio (2008) and Nahasdzáán in the Glittering World (2021), performed in Arizona and France, respectively.  Among her awards are the 2020 Academy of American Poetry Fellowship, the 2019 American Indian Festival of Writers Award, and twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  She is Professor Emerita with Distinction from Arizona State University. 

The Indigenous Poetry Series is made possible with support from The Poetry Foundation.