His 2-year term as the state's 16th poet laureate runs until Jan. 1, 2009. He succeeds Francine Ringold from Tulsa.
Momaday, who was born in Lawton, earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for his first novel, "House Made of Dawn."
The 73-year-old is a poet, playwright, artist and scholar.
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteEven writerfella was 'born at Lawton,' but that only is because that is where the formerly-named "Kiowa Indian Hospital" is located, now called 'IHS-PHS Lawton Indian Hospital.' That wos where SW Oklahoma Natives went to birth their children in generations prior to now. It now is not so much true, but once it was. It more or less would make of us 'natives of Lawton' but it only is an accident of circumstance. Consider this: in any given state, if Caucasians only had ONE CENTRAL HOSPITAL located in one particular city, they would be 'natives' of that particular city. Only Native Americans of the 20th Century have that untruthful heritage...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
POSTSCRIPTUM: My next youngest sister, Joan, now deceased, was born in Los Angeles in 1942. You cannot imagine the confusion on the part of the Kiowa Agency and the Kiowa Tribe that, somehow, she was NOT 'born at Lawton'...
RLB
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteAnd now is where writerfella gets himself in trouble. As writerfella exceedingly has been careful to share credit with his co-writers, N. Scott Momaday has not done the same. There was a female researcher who co-wrote portions of the material in HOUSE MADE OF DAWN who went uncredited then and thus remains so to this day.
Remember: you heard it here, first!!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
My family almost moved to Lawton when I was a teen.
ReplyDelete