The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is excited to announce the release of The Larger Voice: Celebrating the Work of Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Literature Fellows. This is the first publication by NACF that highlights the work of many of our National Artist Fellows in literature.

Free PDF copies of the book are available here:  www.nativeartsandcultures.org/programs/literary-anthology

“The intention of this collection is to celebrate their voices and to build pathways of understanding and education that will carry their writing to the four corners of the world, reclaiming social narratives around Native cultures and perspectives and highlighting the crucial contributions of contemporary Native writers," Rena Priest, Washington State Poet Laureate, (Lhaq’temish [Lummi] Nation) as curator and editor of the anthology. Priest is a Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Writing Fellow, and the recipient of an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award. 

The NACF Literature Fellows included in the Anthology are as follows: 

• Sherwin Bitsui (Diné) 

• Laura Da’ (Eastern Shawnee) 

• Natalie Diaz (Mojave and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe)

• Heid E. Erdrich (Ojibwe Turtle Mountain) 

• Kelli Jo Ford (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation)

• Santee Frazier (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation)

• Linda Hogan (Chickasaw) 

• Layli Long Soldier (Citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation)

• Mona Susan Power (Enrolled Member of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation)

• Luci Tapahonso (Diné[Navajo]) 

• David Treuer (Ojibwe) 

• Michael Wasson (Nez Perce [Nimíipuu])

• Elizabeth Woody (The Confederated Tribes of the Reservation at Warm Springs, Oregon)

The Larger Voice features cover art by Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota), a 2017 NACF Mentor Artist Fellow and visual artist.  

The foreword of the anthology was written by U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo (Mvskoke Nation) who is also NACF’s Board Chair. Elise Paschen (Osage), NACF Board Member and Poet, wrote an endorsement which is featured on the back cover of the book. 

This anthology was made possible with support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and Engaging the Senses Foundation.

Please join us in celebrating the launch of this publication at Voices Like Thunder panel and poetry reading co-hosted by NACF and Portland Art Museum on November 6.

The panel will be moderated by author Trevino Brings Plenty (Minneconjou Lakota), with the participation of anthology editor Rena Priest (Lummi Nation), and writers Elizabeth Woody (Navajo/Warm Springs/Wasco/Yakama) and Laura Da’ (Eastern Shawnee).

A Q&A panel and an open mic for BIPOC community poets will follow. This event is part of Portland Book Festival Cover-to-Cover Program 2022 #PDXBookFest. 

 

When: Sunday, November 6, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm 

Where: Portland Art Museum – Fields Ballroom, 1119 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 

The event is free, and tickets can be reserved at portlandartmuseum.org/event/voices-like-thunder. 

We could not do this meaningful work without you. We rely on your generous support to ensure a vibrant future for Native artists and culture bearers. Your gift will support artists and community projects whose work can change the narrative of invisibility for future generations to come and open dialogue for social change. Will you consider making a gift today?