Natalie Diaz

Natalie Diaz
Born Needles, California
Language Mojave; English
Nationality Gila River Indian Community[1]
Alma mater Old Dominion University
Genre Poetry

Natalie Diaz is a Mojave American poet, language activist, and educator. She is enrolled in the Gila River Indian Community.

Early life

Natalie Diaz was born in Needles, California. [2] She grew up in the Fort Mojave Indian Village in Needles, California, on the border of California, Arizona, and Nevada. She attended Old Dominion University where she played point guard on the women’s basketball team, reaching the NCAA Final Four as a freshman and the bracket of sixteen her other three years. She earned a bachelor's degree. [3] After playing professional basketball in Europe and Asia, she returned to Old Dominion University, and completed an MFA in poetry and fiction,[4] in 2006.[5]

Career

Her work appeared in Narrative,[6] Poetry magazine,[1] Drunken Boat,[7] Prairie Schooner, Iowa Review, and Crab Orchard Review.[8]

Diaz's debut book of poetry, When My Brother Was an Aztec,[9] was a 2012 Lannan Literary Selection,[10] a 2013 PEN/Open Book Award[11] shortlist, and “portrays experiences rooted in Native American life with personal and mythic power.”[12] One important focus of the book is a brother’s addiction to crystal meth.[13]

In 2012, she was interviewed about her poetry and language rehabilitation work on the PBS News Hour.[14]

Personal life

Diaz currently lives in Mohave Valley, Arizona where she used to work on language revitalization at Fort Mojave, her home reservation. She worked with the last Elder speakers of the Mojave language.[8] Currently, she teaches at Arizona State University. [15] She is enrolled as member of the Gila Indian Community. [16]

Poetry

  • When My Brother Was an Aztec. Copper Canyon Press. 10 October 2013. ISBN 978-1-61932-033-8.

In Anthology

  • Melissa Tuckey, ed. (2018). Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0820353159.

Awards and honors

  • 2018 - MacArthur Fellowship[17]
  • 2007 — Pablo Neruda Prize in Poetry[18]
  • 2007—Tobias Wolff Fiction Prize[18]
  • Louis Untermeyer Scholarship in Poetry [19]
  • Narrative Poetry Prize [20]
  • Lannan Literary Fellowship [21]

References

  1. 1 2 "Natalie Diaz". www.poetryfoundation.org. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  2. "Natalie Diaz". The University of Arizona Poetry Center. poetry.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  3. "ODU Alum Natalie Diaz's Poetry Gets New York Times Attention". Old Dominion University. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  4. "Natalie Diaz | Narrative Magazine". Narrative Magazine. 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  5. Diaz, Natalie. "Dome Riddle". Drunken Boat. www.drunkenboat.com. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  6. 1 2 "Copper Canyon Press". www.coppercanyonpress.org. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  7. When My Brother Was an Aztec. Copper Canyon Press. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  8. "Awards and Fellowships: Recent Recipients". Lannan Literary Program. Lannan Foundation. www.lannan.org. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  9. "PEN Open Book Award ($5,000) | PEN American Center". www.pen.org. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  10. "Fiction Book Review: When My Brother Was an Aztec by Natalie Diaz". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  11. Logue, Heather (November 27, 2012). "Natalie Diaz: Meth, Mistakes & Mischievous Barbies". The Seattle Star. www.seattlestar.net. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  12. "Watch Full Episodes Online of PBS NewsHour on PBS | Conversation: Poet Natalie Diaz". PBS. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  13. "Natalie Diaz". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  14. 1 2 "33rd Annual Literary Festival, Old Dominion University, October 4-8, 2010". www.lib.odu.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  15. Poetry Foundation
  16. Poetry Foundation
  17. Poetry Foundation
External video
Natalie Diaz reads "Ode to the Beloved's Hips" at the 2014 Split This Rock Poetry Festival, March 30, 2014
Poet Natalie Diaz Reads From 'When My Brother Was an Aztec', PBS NewsHour, June 20, 2012
  • "One on One with Natalie Diaz". GBall. 2000.
  • Natalie Diaz, Blue Flower Arts
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