Leslie Marmon Silko

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Leslie Marmon Silko grew up on the Laguna Pueblo reservation. Her parents were of white American, Native American, and Mexican descent. Silko’s early life was characterized by racial marginalization, as her Laguna blood quantum level did not meet tribal requirements, meaning she was not allowed to participate in rituals or enroll as an official citizen of the Laguna Pueblo. Despite this, Silko’s grandmother and great-grandmother told her traditional stories of the Laguna people, and she identifies strongly with her Laguna heritage. Much of Silko’s writing grapples with what it means to be neither fully white nor fully Native American. In 1969, she earned a BA in English Literature from the University of New Mexico and went on to pursue a full-time literary career. Early on, Silko’s short story “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Discovery Grant. From 1968 to 1974, Silko wrote many of the short stories and poems featured in her first full-length publication, Laguna Woman. Other notable works include her critically-acclaimed novel Ceremony, about a wounded Laguna World War II veteran who returns home to heal; Storyteller, a collection of poems, stories, and autobiographical essays; and Almanac of the Dead, a novel focusing on the conflict between white and Native Americans.