This week on The Write Question, poet and scholar Heather Cahoon talks about the ways her poetry and tribal policy intersect and how her new book of poetry, Horsefly Dress, addresses issues of suffering, danger, and — ultimately — transformation.
About Heather Cahoon:
Heather Cahoon, PhD, earned her MFA in poetry from the University of Montana, where she was the Richard Hugo Scholar. She has received a Potlatch Fund Native Arts Grant and Montana Arts Council Artist Innovation Award. Her chapbook, Elk Thirst, won the Merriam-Frontier Prize. Her roles at the University of Montana have included assistant professor of Native American studies and director of the American Indian Governance and Policy Institute. She is from the Flathead Reservation and is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Heather recommends:
Corpse Whale, by dg nanouk okpik (University of Arizona Press)
Whereas, by Layli Long Soldier (Graywolf Press)
Flood Song, by Sherwin Bitsui (Copper Canyon Press)
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, by Hans Rosling (Flatiron Books)
Lauren recommends:
Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent, by Liz Howard (McClelland & Stewart, Penguin Random House)
Sáanii Dahataal/The Women Are Singing: Poems and Stories, by Luci Tapahonso (University of Arizona Press)
American Indian Governance and Policy Institute’s Resources and “Innovative Ideas”
