American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 11 (1990) Winner
Paula Gunn Allen
ポーラ・ガン・アレン
Pōra Gan Aren
Aliases:
Paula Marie Francis
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1939-10-24 （Cubero, New Mexico, U.S.）
- Died
- 2008-05-29 （Fort Bragg, California, U.S.） age 68
- Nationality
- Laguna Pueblo, United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Cubero, New Mexico, U.S. → Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. → Berkeley, California, U.S. → Los Angeles, California, U.S. → Fort Bragg, California, U.S.
Career
- Occupations
- poet, novelist, literary critic, professor, activist
- Active Years
- 1962-2008
- Affiliations
- Fort Lewis College (faculty), College of San Mateo (faculty), San Diego State University (faculty), San Francisco State University (faculty), University of New Mexico (faculty), University of California, Berkeley (fellow/visiting), University of California, Los Angeles (professor, American Indian Studies Center)
- Influenced By
- Ralph Salisbury, N. Scott Momaday, Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov
- Influenced
- Leslie Marmon Silko, Indigenous feminist scholars and contemporary Native American women writers
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Women's College (attended) | — | — | — | 短期間在籍 | United States |
| University of Oregon | College of Arts and Sciences (undergraduate and graduate) | English | BA, MFA | 1960年代（BA 1966, MFA 1968） | United States |
| University of New Mexico | Graduate school | English / American Indian studies (research) | PhD | 1970年代（〜1975） | United States |
Colorado Women's College (attended)
Period:
短期間在籍
Country:
United States
Attended briefly; did not complete a degree there (later completed degrees elsewhere).
University of Oregon
College of Arts and Sciences (undergraduate and graduate)
/ English
Degree:
BA, MFA
Period:
1960年代（BA 1966, MFA 1968）
Year of Graduation:
1968
Country:
United States
BA (1966) and MFA in creative writing (1968). Studied under Ralph Salisbury.
University of New Mexico
Graduate school
/ English / American Indian studies (research)
Degree:
PhD
Period:
1970年代（〜1975）
Year of Graduation:
1975
Country:
United States
Began research on tribal religions; later taught at the university.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Julia Burgess Prize for Poetry | — | — | University of Oregon | 受賞 |
| 1978 | Creative Writing Award | — | — | National Endowment for the Arts | 受賞 |
| 1984 | Fellowship grant | — | — | Ford Foundation | 受賞（助成） |
| 1990 | Susan Koppelman Award | — | — | Popular and American Culture Associations | 受賞 |
| 1990 | Native American Literature Prize | — | — | University of California, Santa Cruz | 受賞 |
| 1990 | American Book Award | — | — | Before Columbus Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1991 | Vesta Award for Essay Writing | — | — | Woman's Building | 受賞 |
| 1992 | Award for Literature | — | — | Southern California Women for Understanding | 受賞 |
| 1999 | Hubbell Medal for Lifetime Achievement | — | 終身業績 | Modern Language Association | 受賞 |
| 2001 | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | 終身業績 | Native Writers' Circle of the Americas | 受賞 |
| 2007 | Writing Fellowship | — | — | Lannan Literary Awards | 受賞（フェローシップ） |
Julia Burgess Prize for Poetry
1967
Organization:
University of Oregon
Result:
受賞
Creative Writing Award
1978
Organization:
National Endowment for the Arts
Result:
受賞
Fellowship grant
1984
Organization:
Ford Foundation
Result:
受賞（助成）
Susan Koppelman Award
1990
Organization:
Popular and American Culture Associations
Result:
受賞
Native American Literature Prize
1990
Organization:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Result:
受賞
American Book Award
1990
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
受賞
Vesta Award for Essay Writing
1991
Organization:
Woman's Building
Result:
受賞
Award for Literature
1992
Organization:
Southern California Women for Understanding
Result:
受賞
Hubbell Medal for Lifetime Achievement
1999
Category:
終身業績
Organization:
Modern Language Association
Result:
受賞
Lifetime Achievement Award
2001
Category:
終身業績
Organization:
Native Writers' Circle of the Americas
Result:
受賞
Writing Fellowship
2007
Organization:
Lannan Literary Awards
Result:
受賞（フェローシップ）
Awards & Nominations
Lannan Literary Awards
3 appearances
-
Edition 96 (2007, held 2 times in year) Fellowship
-
Edition 177 (2007, held 9 times in year) Fellowship
Works
Major Works
The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions
1986 academic / cultural criticismArgues that European accounts de-emphasized women's central roles in many Native American societies and offers a feminist recovery of matrifocal and egalitarian traditions in Indigenous cultures.
feminismmatrifocalityrecovery of Indigenous traditionscultural criticism
The Woman Who Owned The Shadows
1983 novelA novel following Ephanie Atencio, a mixed-blood woman, and exploring social exclusion, erasure of self, and identity across generations.
mixed-blood identityerasure of selfsocial exclusion
Life Is a Fatal Disease: Collected Poems 1962-1995
1997 poetryA collected volume of poems from 1962 to 1995 combining personal experience, Indigenous myth, and feminist themes.
myth and traditionfemininitypersonal memory
Bibliography
- The Woman Who Owned The Shadows (1983)
- The Sacred Hoop (1986)
- Life Is a Fatal Disease: Collected Poems 1962-1995 (1997)
- America the Beautiful: The Final Poems of Paula Gunn Allen (2010)
- 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 (1974)
- Grandmothers of the Light: A Medicine Women's Sourcebook (1991)
- Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat (2004)
- Spider Woman's Granddaughters (ed., 1989)
- Song of the Turtle (ed., 1996)
- Voice of the Turtle (ed., 1994)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- lyrical, prose-poetic style rooted in Indigenous myths and talesinterdisciplinary writing combining cultural criticism and feminist perspectives
- Recurring Motifs
- Grandmother SpiderCorn Maidenmatrifocal / female-centered social structuresmixed-blood identity and search for self
Legacy
Paula Gunn Allen is known for pioneering work linking Indigenous cultural traditions and feminism; her scholarship and creative writing significantly influenced Indigenous feminism and Native American literary studies, earning numerous lifetime achievement honors.
Academic Societies
- Modern Language Association (associated)
Archives
- University of Oregon (Paula Gunn Allen papers)
- Harvard University Radcliffe Institute (Persephone Press Records)
- University of Michigan University Library (Harper's Anthology Papers)
In Popular Culture
- Widely adopted in university curricula and as texts in gender and Indigenous studies
Quotes
-
Many Native American societies were matrifocal and women played central roles, but European accounts de-emphasized those roles.
Source: The Sacred Hoop (1986) (1986)
Trivia
- Born Paula Marie Francis.
- Of mixed Scottish-American, Lebanese-American, and Laguna descent but not enrolled in a tribe.
- Lived in a committed relationship with poet Judy Grahn from 1981 to 1986.
- Two sons (Fuad Ali Allen and Eugene John Brown) predeceased her; surviving children include Lauralee Brown and Suleiman Allen.