The Nature of Native American Poetry

by Norma Wilson

Book Overview

The beginning of the twenty-first century marks the maturation of the voices of indigenous poets in the United States. Norma Wilson's appealing and accessible collection of essays is both an introduction to and an enthusiastic celebration of the poetic vistas inhabited by modern Native American writers.

Wilson's scope is both broad and specific as she draws from contemporary criticism, tribal histories and folklore, interviews with writers,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082632259X
• ISBN13: 9780826322593
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Native North America Revealed Through Its Poetry

Poet and professor Norma Wilson offers us eight concise chapters on eight living literary heroes--four men and four women--who are well known nationwide in Indian country but still exotic enough to pique the interest of mainstream readers. In passing, and particularly in her introduction and a concluding chapter entitled "The New Generation," Wilson makes cogent observations on many other Native poets. There is no better brief introduction to Native writing (most Natives begin writing as poets). Not a word is wasted, and the bibliography alone is worth the price of the book. Wilson's expert literary analysis bridges the gap between the Western European canon and oral tradition.