Love affair with language

Writers' award a milestone in Navajo poet's laboring career"One of the things that makes Sherwin's work so exceptional is that it's truly grounded in his traditional Navajo culture," says poet Arthur Sze, who was one of Bitsui's instructors at the institute.

"He's an intense imagist," says Sze, who now serves as the poet laureate of Santa Fe. "The lyricism and immediacy of the world is always there in his work. He's engaged in a kind of ceremony with language."