The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature

2022 Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award Winner

The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature is unprecedented. It showcases the breadth, depth, and diversity of Diné creative artists and their poetry, fiction, and nonfiction prose.This wide-ranging anthology brings together writers who offer perspectives that span generations and perspectives on life and Diné history. The collected works display a rich variety of and creativity in themes: home and history; contemporary concerns about identity, historical trauma, and loss of language; and economic and environmental inequalities.

The Diné Reader developed as a way to demonstrate both the power of Diné literary artistry and the persistence of the Navajo people. The volume opens with a foreword by poet Sherwin Bitsui, who offers insight into the importance of writing to the Navajo people. The editors then introduce the volume by detailing the literary history of the Diné people, establishing the context for the tremendous diversity of the works that follow, which includes free verse, sestinas, limericks, haiku, prose poems, creative nonfiction, mixed genres, and oral traditions reshaped into the written word.

This volume combines an array of literature with illuminating interviews, biographies, and photographs of the featured Diné writers and artists. A valuable resource to educators, literature enthusiasts, and beyond, this anthology is a much-needed showcase of Diné writers and their compelling work. The volume also includes a chronology of important dates in Diné history by Jennifer Nez Denetdale, as well as resources for teachers, students, and general readers by Michael Thompson. The Diné Reader is an exciting convergence of Navajo writers and artists with scholars and educators.

Author: Esther G. Belin
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 04/20/2021
Pages: 432
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780816540990


Review Citation(s):
Foreword 03/26/2021
Publishers Weekly 05/10/2021

About the Author
Esther G. Belin is a writer and multimedia artist.

Jeff Berglund is a professor of English at Northern Arizona University.

Connie A. Jacobs is professor emerita at San Juan College.

Anthony K. Webster is a linguistic anthropologist.