Layli Long Soldier
Layli Long Soldier is an Oglala Lakota poet, writer, feminist, artist, and activist currently working as an adjunct English professor at Diné College.Life
Long Soldier grew up in the four corners region of the Southwest, where she continues to live and work to advocate against the continued, systematic oppression of indigenous populations. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with a Bachelor's in Fine Arts, and went on to earn a Master's at Bard College. In 2010 she published the chapbook Chromosomory, and in 2013 participated in the art exhibit Pte Oyate at the Red Cloud Indian School, along with Roger Broer, Micheal Two Bulls and Keith Brave Heart.
Long Soldier is an editor of the journal Drunken Boat, and the poetry editor for Kore Press.
Her first volume of poetry, Whereas, was published in 2017 by Graywolf Press. Whereas is a collection that makes known the systemic violence against and cultural erasure of native tribes in the United States through a thoughtful investigation of language.Awards and honors
- 2015 Lannan Literary Award
- 2016 National Artist Fellowship from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
- 2016 Whiting Award
- 2017 National Book Award for Poetry, finalist for Whereas
- 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, winner for Whereas
- 2018 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, winner for Whereas
- 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize, shortlisted for Whereas
Works
- Chromosomory, Lubbock, TX : Q Ave Press, 2010.
- Whereas, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 2017,,
