Paula Gunn Allen
Paula Gunn Allen | |
---|---|
![]() Paula Gunn Allen (2007) | |
Born | Paula Marie Francis October 24, 1939 Cubero, New Mexico |
Died | May 29, 2008 Fort Bragg, California | (aged 68)
Occupation | Poet, novelist |
Nationality | Laguna Pueblo |
Alma mater | University of Oregon, University of New Mexico |
Literary movement | Native American Renaissance |
Paula Gunn Allen (October 24, 1939 – May 29, 2008) was an American
In addition to her poetry and fiction, in 1986 she published the book, The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions,[3][4] in which she posited that Europeans had de-emphasized the role of women in their accounts of Native American cultures because of their own biases, as they were from patriarchal societies.[3]
Biography
Paula Marie Francis was born on October 24, 1939 in
She was one of five children born to Ethel Gottlieb Francis, who came from the Keres Pueblo people, and Elias Lee Francis II.[6][9] Her Lebanese-American father owned a local store, the Cubero Trading Company, and later served as the lieutenant governor of New Mexico from 1967 to 1970.[10] Her parents were both musicians, and her brother, Lee Francis, went on to be a poet, storyteller, and educator.
Allen first went to a mission school and graduated in 1957 from a boarding school called the "Sisters of Charity" located in Albuquerque.[11] She first took an interest in writing in high school after discovering the work of Gertrude Stein.[11]
She briefly attended the Colorado Women's College, then received a BA in English in 1966 and an MFA in creative writing in 1968 from the University of Oregon.[10] At the University of Oregon, she studied under poet Ralph Salisbury, who claimed to be Cherokee and would have a heavy influence on Allen.[12][13] Allen also credits N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn with restoring her sense of Native identity and alleviating a serious depressive episode while she worked on her master's degree.[9]
In 1975, she earned a PhD at the University of New Mexico, where she worked as a professor and began research on tribal religions. As a student at the University of New Mexico, Allen reached out to a poetry professor, Robert Creeley, for poetic advice. He directed her to the work of Charles Olson, Allen Ginsberg, and Denise Levertov, who all had strong influences on her work.
In the 1980s, Allen was a fellow at the Stanford Humanities Institute, where she helped coordinate a weekly women's workshop.[11]
Allen taught at Fort Lewis College in Colorado, the College of San Mateo, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Los Angeles. She taught at UCLA from 1990 to 1999 as a professor of the English department and the UCLA American Indian Studies Center.[14]
Anthropological writings
Based on her own experiences and her study of
Allen's arguments and research were criticized by more mainstream scholars, as well as by author and critic
Literary career
Allen is well known as a
Her novel, The Woman Who Owned The Shadows (1983), features the woman Ephanie Atencio, the mixed-blood daughter of a mixed-blood mother who struggles with social exclusion and the obliteration of self.[19]
As a poet, Allen published a collection of more than 30 years of work: Life Is a Fatal Disease: Collected Poems 1962-1995, judged to be her most successful. Allen's work is often categorized as belonging to the Native American Renaissance, but the author rejects the label.[13]
Awards
- 1967: Julia Burgess Prize for Poetry, University of Oregon[20]
- 1978: Creative Writing Award, National Endowment for the Arts[20]
- 1984-1985: Fellowship grant, Ford Foundation[11]
- 1990: Susan Koppelman Award, Popular and American Culture Associations
- 1990: Native American Literature Prize, University of California, Santa Cruz[20]
- 1990: American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation
- 1991: Vesta Award for Essay Writing, Woman's Building[11]
- 1992: Award for Literature, Southern California Women for Understanding
- 1999: Hubbell Medal for Lifetime Achievement, Modern Language Association[21][22]
- 2001: Lifetime Achievement Award, Native Writers' Circle of the Americas[11]
- 2007: Writing Fellowship, Lannan Literary Awards
Personal life
Allen's father, E. Lee Francis, was a Lebanese American and her mother, was
Allen was in two different marriages and divorced both times.[22] From 1981-1986, she lived in a committed relationship with American poet and author, Judy Grahn.[24][25]
Two of Allen's children preceded her in death, Fuad Ali Allen, and Eugene John Brown. Son Fuad Ali Allen died in 1972 and her other son Eugene John Brown died in 2001. She was survived by two children, Lauralee Brown and Suleiman Allen.[26][22]
Bibliography
ISBN, pages cited, etc. (January 2021) ) |
- The Woman Who Owned The Shadows (1983), novel
Poetry
- America the Beautiful: The Final Poems of Paula Gunn Allen (2010)
- Life is a Fatal Disease: Collected Poems 1962-1995 (1997)
- Skins and Bones: Poems 1979-1987 (1988)
- Shadow Country (1982)
- A Cannon Between My Knees (1981)
- Star Child: Poems (1981)
- Coyote's Daylight Trip (1978)
- Blind Lion Poems (The Blind Lion) (1974)
Academic
- Off the Reservation: Reflections on Boundary-Busting Border-Crossing Loose Canons (1998)
- Womanwork: Bridges: Literature across Cultures McGraw–Hill (1994)
- Grandmothers of the Light: A Medicine Women's Sourcebook (1991)
- The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions (1986)
- Studies in American Indian Literature: Critical Essays and Course Designs (1983)
Biography
- Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat (2004)
- As Long As the Rivers Flow: The Stories of Nine Native Americans (1996)
Edited collections and anthologies
- Hozho: Walking in Beauty: Short Stories by American Indian Writers (2001)
- Song of the Turtle: American Indian Literature, 1974-1994 (1996)
- Voice of the Turtle: American Indian Literature, 1900-1970 (1994)
- Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women (1989)
Anthology contributions
- The Serpent's Tongue: Prose, Poetry, and Art of the New Mexican Pueblos, ed. Nancy Wood. (1997)
- Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology, ed. Will Roscoe. (1988)
References
- ISBN 1-56023-048-7
- ^ Harjo, Joy. "Her Pueblo Round Place-A Remembrance of Paula Gunn Allen". WMC News and Features. Women's Media Center. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8070-4617-3.
- ^ Karvar, Quannah (January 25, 1987). "The Sacred Hoop: RECOVERING THE FEMININE IN AMERICAN INDIAN TRADITION by Paula Gunn Allen". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Paula Gunn Allen". Continental Divide Trail Coalition. Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57859-008-7.
- ^ Wiget, Andrew (1985), Native American Literature, G. K. Hall & Company.
- ISBN 978-1496235008.
- ^ a b Mills, Kathleen (2016-12-01). "Paula Gunn Allen". Critical Survey of American Literature: 68–73 – via Literary Reference Plus.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-28215-3.
- ^ S2CID 201772367.
- ^ "Paula Gunn Allen." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 26 April 2016. http://biography.yourdictionary.com/paula-gunn-allen
- ^ a b Velie, Alan R. and A. Robert Lee (2013), The Native American Renaissance: Literary Imagination and Achievement, University of Oklahoma Press: Norman.
- ^ Marquez, Letisia. "Obituary: Paula Gunn Allen, 68, noted English, American Indian studies scholar" UCLA Newsroom, June 03, 2008 Archived 2019-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
- JSTOR 20459010.
- ^ Smith, Andrea (8 September 2011). "Indigenous feminism without apology". Unsettling America Decolonization in Theory & Practice. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-84277-940-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7748-1808-7.
- ^ Bloom, Harold (1998), Native-American Writers, Chelsea House Publishers.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55591-917-7.
- ^ "Hubbell Medal 1999 - Paula Gunn Allen". American Literature Section. Modern Language Association. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Archives - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. 7 June 2008.
- JSTOR 20736907.
- ISBN 0-8070-7911-1.
- ^ "Poet, Activist, Scholar". judy grahn official site. 2016. Retrieved 8 Aug 2023.
From 1981-1986, Judy lived with the Native American critic, novelist, poet, and teacher, Paula Gunn Allen. The two of them held weekly Sunday morning meetings on subjects pertaining to women's spirituality at Mama Bears Coffeehouse and Bookstore on Telegraph Avenue in north Berkeley.
- ^ Marquez, Letisia. "Obituary: Paula Gunn Allen, 68, noted English, American Indian studies scholar". UCLA Newsroom. UCLA. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
Further reading
Archival resources
- Harper's Anthology Papers, 1984-1988 (440 items) are housed at the University of Michigan University Library.
- Persephone Press Records, 1974-1983 Archived 2012-05-09 at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
- Paula Gunn Allen papers at the University of Oregon
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Memorial Site for Paula Gunn Allen
- Official Paula Gunn Allen Site, Hanksville Storytellers
- Paula Gunn Allen, Voices in the Gaps, University of Minnesota