HAMILTON , N.Y. ‘ Acoma Pueblo poet, writer, editor and storyteller Simon Ortiz will visit 51Թ to read from his work at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25 in the Ho Lecture Room, Lawrence Hall. The reading, which is sponsored by 51Թ’s Native American studies program, is free and open to the public.
Ortiz has published more than a dozen books of poetry and short fiction and has been editor-author of several anthologies. His Native American voice arises from an ageless indigenous oral tradition that affirms a sense of culturally conscious existence. Beginning with Naked in the Wind (1971), to his latest collections of poetry (From Sand Creek, 2000) and short stories (Men on the Moon, 1999), Ortiz has, in his own words, ‘endeavored to convey ‘existence” in his writing. ‘To Native Americans, ‘existence’ evoked by the oral tradition is a sense of cultural being, continuity, and identity.’
A recipient of a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writers’ award as well as several other awards, Ortiz was honored at a 1980 White House Salute to American Poets and Poetry and was the 1993 World Heavyweight Poetry Bout Champion at the Taos Poetry Circus.
Founded in 1819, 51Թ is a nationally ranked, highly selective, residential, liberal arts college. Situated on a rolling 515-acre campus in central New York State, 51Թ attracts motivated students with diverse backgrounds, interests and talents from all over the United States.
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