All My Relations Arts Native Authors Program
The Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) and All My Relations Arts is pleased to announce the recipients of the second iteration of the Native Authors Program.
2022 Authors: An Garagiola, Chloé Allyn, Deanna StandingCloud, Emily Poupart, Emmy Her Many Horses, Gillian Joseph, Kyle Hill, Melissa Olson, Nicholas DeShaw, Sarah Wheelock, Tara Perron, and Tara Widner
Under the program facilitator and mentorship of Art Coulson, authors will expand their practice and engage in the development of their focus. “I was really impressed with the caliber of applicants we had for the program this round. I’m looking forward to working with this amazing group of native writers as they breathe life into our stories across so many different forms and genres.” – Art Coulson.
All My Relations Arts’ Native Authors Program supports all aspects of development of Native authors in genres of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, children’s fiction, and young adult fiction. Recipients will participate in an 18 month intensive writing program focusing on professional development topics including preparing a manuscript, working with an editor, approaching a publisher, the business of writing, and more. AMRA’s Authors Program creates a much needed, brave space for Native authors to learn and flourish.
“This work is funded in part by the Minnesota Humanities Center with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.”
ABOUT THE PROGRAM FACILITATOR
Art Coulson is a writer of Cherokee, English and Dutch descent and comes from a family of storytellers in all three traditions.
A Navy brat, Art traveled the world, attending 14 schools on three continents before graduating high school. Art served as the first executive director of the Wilma Mankiller Foundation in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma after an award-winning 25-year career in journalism, including a stint as editorial page editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
He is the author of more than a dozen books, graphic novels and plays, including the middle grade novel, Chasing Bigfoot (2022), The Reluctant Storyteller (2020), and Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi! (2021). The Reluctant Storyteller was named a best book of 2020 by Bank Street and American Indians in Children’s Literature. Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi! was named a best STEM children’s book by the National Science Teaching Association in 2021 and featured on the inaugural broadcast of Reading Rainbow Live!
His short stories have appeared in anthologies from Benchmark and Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins. Art is represented by Jacqui Lipton at The Tobias Literary Agency.
Learn more at www.artcoulson.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
An Garagiola (Bois Forte Band of Chippewa) is a mother, graduate student, researcher, and writer born and raised in the Twin Cities. An works a data sovereignty specialist at Little Earth where she supports urban food sovereignty initiatives, and in the office of Native American Affairs at the University of Minnesota where she helps to coordinate projects such as TRUTH, a collaboration with
MIAC and the 11 recognized tribal nations to tell the past, present, and future of University-Tribal relations.
Broadly, An uses Indigenous research methods/analyses and modes of communication via cultural literary production to interrogate how colonial policies and ideologies (re)construct, control, marginalize, and suppress histories, voices, and knowledges. She seeks to complete and correct narratives colonial society has told about Native Americans. As a mixed-race Anishinaabekwe, her blend of poetry, research, and advocacy is a personal reflection of her lived experiences. An’s writing spans a breadth of subject matter including poverty, disability, addiction, suicide, love, loss, and Indigenous eroticisms. As she reclaims Anishinaabemowin, An seeks to incorporate it whenever possible. Trained in creative writing and policy analysis, her work is interdisciplinary, rooted in Indigenous Feminisms, and in the belief that healing happens in circles of relationality with ourselves, others, and the land.
Chloé Allyn, or Mishmyanwekwe, is a poet, artist and friend from Wisconsin. Her work celebrates love, womanhood and our interconnected life with nature. She has been published and educated and will continue to do so.
Deanna StandingCloud is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation of Anishinaabe. StandingCloud is currently a Community Relations Specialist Tribal Liaison with United Healthcare Community & State Plan of Minnesota. StandingCloud has been collaboratively working in community for many years. She was awarded the American Indian Family Empowerment Program grant through the Tiwahe Foundation to create a children’s book entitled, “Anishinaabe Alchemy” that highlights cultural Ojibwe icons as superheroes. She is also currently learning the Ojibwe language and helping to revitalize the
(cont.) traditional game of Lacrosse. Before the pandemic, she also completed her program as a Native Nation Rebuilder with the Native Governance Center, focusing upon “Sovereignty through Storytelling.” She is a mother, playwright, organizer, artist, community leader, pow wow emcee, and advocate for Indigenous people. In the spare time she can scrape up, Deanna enjoys spending time with her children Breanna, Nigozis and Ziigwan, attending traditional ceremonies, going on nature walks, creating art, building community, and cooking yummy food.
Emmy Her Many Horses (Sicangu/Oglala Lakota) is a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, an educator, singer, performer, author, maker, gardener and Auntie. Born and raised on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, Emmy has a passion for uplifting Rez Kids, the disabled community, and Native artists of all kinds. A former special education teacher, she values stories where children are able to see themselves and strives to create a world where contemporary Rez Kids (like herself) see themselves in the pages of books. She lives in Oceti Sakowin treaty territory with her spouse and two bulldogs, Pizzachu and Keiko.
Emily Poupart is an Ojibwe writer based in the Twin Cities who grew up in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. She is currently an intern at MNHS Press and has been previously published in the Minnesota Women’s Press.
Gillian Joseph (they/them) is a queer, 2-Spirit Ihaŋktoŋwaŋ and Mdewakaŋtoŋ Dakota storyteller who grew up as a guest on Waxhaw and Catawba lands. They are the author of Protector of the Beads: a Dakhota Poem (forthcoming from Wíyouŋkihipi Productions) and serve as a folio editor at Anomaly. Alongside writing, they work in the mental health field with a focus on Indigenous health sovereignty. Gillian loves spending time near mní, trying to figure out what their dreams mean, and hanging out with their cats, Smudge and Solstice.
Kyle X. Hill, Ph. D., M.P.H is Ojibwe (Turtle Mountain Band; Enrolled Citizen), Dakota (Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe), Lakota (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe). Dr. Hill is a storyteller and poet, grounding his use of story from his comedic, but all too often tragic, experiences living on several different reservations, as well as urban areas, grappling with poverty and the devastating consequences of settler-colonialism and Christianity. Dr. Hill was born in Mni Luzahan, or Rapid City, SD. Dr. Hill is a licensed psychologist, currently an assistant professor with the University of North Dakota, school of medicine and health sciences, department of Indigenous Health. He currently lives on his Dakota and Anishinaabe traditional homelands in St. Paul, MN. Dr. Hill is also a veteran of the U.S. He enjoys traveling in the summer as a grass dancer on the powwow trail.
Melissa Olson (she/hers) is a freelance journalist and producer of independent public media. In spring of 2022, Melissa reported several stories for MPR’s North Star Journey Project. She is the former co-managing editor of KFAI Radio’s MinneCulture audio storytelling program where she edited short-form and long-form audio stories. She is co-writer and co-producer of Stolen Childhoods, a long-form audio documentary produced in collaboration with KFAI Radio. Her work on Stolen Childhoods was honored with a Page One Award for Special Projects in Radio from the Minnesota chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists.
Melissa is a contributor to We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World, an anthology of essays published by the University of Minnesota Press. She is a board member of More Than a Single Story, a non-profit literary arts organization dedicated to supporting BIPOC writers in Minnesota. Melissa is a tribal citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. She is a graduate student in Arts &Public Policy at the Tisch School for the Arts at NYU, and she lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Nicholas DeShaw is an author from Minnesota and is Bois Forte Ojibwe. He has written fiction for all ages from sci-fi to horror to picture books including an upcoming children’s book to be released through Nancy Paulsen Press. Nicholas DeShaw has been published on A Tribe Called Geek covering all things Indigenerd as well as Lacrosse All Stars where he has written several pieces on Indigenous lacrosse. He is greatly inspired by his Ojibwe culture from which he draws much of his source material. DeShaw
strives to be a Native voice in fiction and hopes to see many Native authors creating content for all ages. DeShaw is an active member of the community where he works as an elementary PE teacher and advocate for Indian Education in Inver Grove Heights and South St Paul. DeShaw helps to promote Native American
(cont.) games, especially traditional lacrosse. He is a proud husband and father, above all else his first passion is his family.
Tara Perron Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ is a Dakota and Ojibwe mother. She grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She studied Dakota language and culture at Metro State University. She is the author of Takoza: Walks With the Blue Moon Girl, Animals of Khéya Wíta, and Animals of Nimaamaa-Aki. Tara is inspired by the loving hearts of her sons: she is a creator, plant medicine enthusiast, and has always loved to write. She believes in the healing power of storytelling.
Tara Widner is an Anishinaabekwe Water Protector and ricer, Pembina Band Ojibwe (White Earth). A traveler from the Midwest, currently residing a mile from the banks of the Misi-ziibi in the Dakota homelands on what is now called Minneapolis.
Past Events:
Voices Rising: Native Writers Reading & Celebration – May 20, 6:30 p.m. Register here!
Join us for an evening of celebration and readings by the All My Relations Arts Native Authors Program Inaugural cohort. The Native Authors Women Writers Group, will share final readings from their 18-month writers intensive cohort program.
Voices Rising: Native Writers Reading & Celebration – May 21, 7 pm. Register here.
Join us for an evening of celebration and readings by the Native Women Writers group, the inaugural cohort of 8 writers in the year-long intensive Native Authors Program!
Book Editors Panel & Conversation – May 11
Watch and listen to Editors from highly respected organizations as they share insights into the book publishing process. https://youtu.be/ON8z2CJ04QI
Hear from presenters:
- Joey McGarvey, Senior Editor, Milkweed Editions
- Ann Regan, Editor in Chief, MN Historical Society Press
- Erik Anderson, Regional Trade Editor, University of Minnesota Press
- Gordon Henry, Senior Editor, American Indian Studies Series, Michigan State University Press
Program Facilitator:
Diane Wilson
Diane Wilson is a Dakota writer who uses personal experience to illustrate broader social and historical context. Her new novel, The Seed Keeper, will be published by Milkweed Editions in Spring, 2021. Her memoir, Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past, won a 2006 Minnesota Book Award and was selected for the 2012 One Minneapolis One Read program. Her nonfiction book, Beloved Child: A Dakota Way of Life, was awarded the 2012 Barbara Sudler Award from History Colorado. Her work has been featured in many publications, including the anthology A Good Time for the Truth. She has served as a Mentor for the Loft Emerging Artist program as well as Intermedia’s Beyond the Pale. Awards include the Minnesota State Arts Board, a 2013 Bush Foundation Fellowship, a 2018 AARP/Pollen 50 Over 50 Leadership Award, and the Jerome Foundation. She is a descendent of the Mdewakanton Oyate and enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation. Wilson currently serves as the Executive Director for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance.
Writers Cohort:
Tashia Hart
Tashia Hart (Red Lake Anishinaabe) is an award-winning author and illustrator of Gidjie and the Wolves (Not Too Far Removed Press, 2020) and Girl Unreserved (2015). Forthcoming works include a cookbook, The Good Berry: Harvesting and Preparing Wild Rice and Other Wild Foods (Minnesota Historical Society Press 2021), Native Love Jams, a romantic comedy with a pub date tba, and a comic book, Kid Epicurious (tba). She’s the illustrator of 3 books in the Minnesota Native American Lives Series (Wise Ink Creative Publishing, 2020), and her short works include recipes/essays for PBS, First Nations Development Institute and others.
Teresa Peterson
Teresa Peterson, Utuhu Cistinna Win, is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and member of the Upper Sioux Community. She is the author of Grasshopper Girl, a children’s book published by Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing. Her poetry has appeared in “The Racism Issue” of the Yellow Medicine Review. Teresa and her uncle, Super LaBatte, co-wrote their forthcoming book, Voices from Pejuhutazizi: Dakota Stories and Storytellers, Minnesota Historical Society Press, that will be out late 2021. Additionally published in the academic world, her true passion is digging in her garden that overlooks the Mni Sota River valley and feeding friends and family.
Evelyn Bellanger
Evelyn Bellanger lives at and is an enrolled member of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation. She is an environmental activist and has actively supported stopping DAPL (Standing Rock), Stop Line 3 (Palisade, MN) and recently published a blog in Environmental Working Group (EWG) Pineland Sands and is a member of The Rights of Manoomin (Wild Rice) Committee. She is a member of White Earth Elders Indian Affairs Commission, a consultant for Historical Trauma presentations and publishes articles in the White Earth tribal newspaper, Anishinaabeg Today. She is currently working on a memoir of living on the reservation and how historical trauma touched her life. She has a masters’ degree in American Indian Studies.
Janice Bad Moccasin
Janice Bad Moccasin is a Dakota/Lakota Spiritual Advisor who has shared ceremonial based healing work with individuals, families and communities who have been impacted by trauma. She is a visionary thinker, eloquent speaker and has been writing a collection called Java Reflections on social media for the past 6 years and has empowered an audience. Janice is part of the Native American Women’s Writing Cohort. She is writing a memoir which takes you on a journey of transforming trauma to awakening an inner freedom voice who carries forward her ancestor’s resilience, teachings, and personal ceremonial healing.
Annastacia Cardon
Annastacia Cardon is an Ojibwe woman enrolled in Leech Lake. She is eighteen years old, began writing at thirteen, and published a poem in Yellow Medicine Review 2020. Her writing ranges from poetry to creative fiction. She is currently working on a fantasy novel for publication. Passionate hobbies include beekeeping, dancing, and being an active member in the Native community.
Gabrielle Tateyuskanskan
Gabrielle Wynde Tateyuskanskan lives in the rural community of Enemy Swim on the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota. She is a visual artist, writer and poet. Gabrielle is a long-time member of the Oak Lake Writers. Her work has been published in The American Indian Quarterly, The Footsteps of Our Ancestors: The Dakota Commemorative Marches of the 21st Century, This Stretch of the River, He Sapa Woihanble: Black Hills Dream, Beloved Child: A Dakota Way of Life, What Makes a South Dakotan and The Yellow Medicine Review.
Ruth Denny
Ruth Denny is Potawatomi (People of the Fire) and Ho-Chunk (People of the Sacred Voice) originally from the great lakes and woodlands of Wisconsin. She is a storyteller—telling stories that educate, preserve history and culture, and hopefully inspire. Former editor of The Circle newspaper and Executive Director of the Native American Journalists Association, she is currently writing creative non-fiction. She recently guest-edited the Yellow Medicine Review, Spring 2020 issue. Ruth has received writing grants from The Tiwahe Foundation; The Loft; the Jerome Foundation and others. She is currently writing a memoir.
Rosetta Peters
Rosetta Peters is a poet, an author, a public speaker, and an activist. She is of Yankton, Crow Creek, and Oglala descent. A procrastinator to the point of detriment and lover of the natural world.