LITERATURE

Native American Scholar & Author BETH PIATOTE

Featured in OSU-Cascades Annual Literary Event

Beth Piatote is a writer and scholar of Native American and Indigenous literature and law. Piatote, who is Nez Perce and an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, is a professor of Native American Studies at University of California, Berkeley. Her research spans Indigenous studies, American studies, literary studies, legal studies and women’s and gender studies. Piatote is recognized for her focus on revitalizing Indigenous languages, including Nez Perce. She writes fiction, poetry, plays and essays, and is the author of Domestic Subjects: Gender, Citizenship, and Law in Native American Literature, and The Beadworkers: Stories, which was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, both in 2020. Photo by Kirsten Lara Getchell. Raquel Gutiérrez uses poetry, non-fiction and critical writing to explore their perspective as a queer and brown writer. Their work encompasses migration from Mexico and Central America, desire and colonization and the U.S. Southwest. They are a 2021 recipient of the Rabkin Prize in Arts Journalism. Their writing has appeared in Art in America, The Georgia Review and on NPR Music. They teach poetry in the OSU-Cascades MFA program. Photo courtesy of OSU-Cascades

Beth Piatote, a writer and scholar of Native American and Indigenous literature and law, will read and discuss her recent work on June 6 at the High Desert Museum.

The program, titled Writing West: A Conversation with Two Award-Winning Authors, will take place from 6:30-7:30pm. A reception will follow.

Piatote, who is the OSU-Cascades Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program’s 2022 Distinguished Visiting Writer, will be joined by MFA faculty author Raquel Gutiérrez. Gutiérrez’s latest book, Brown Neon has been lauded in national media since its release earlier this year. Following their readings, Piatote and Gutiérrez will discuss opportunities and challenges faced by writers of color whose storytelling is shaped by landscapes in the American West.

Piatote, who is Nez Perce and an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, is a professor of Native American Studies at University of California, Berkeley. Her research spans Indigenous studies, American studies, literary studies, legal studies and women’s and gender studies.

Piatote is recognized for her focus on revitalizing Indigenous languages, including Nez Perce. She writes fiction, poetry, plays and essays, and is the author of Domestic Subjects: Gender, Citizenship, and Law in Native American Literature, and The Beadworkers: Stories, which was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the PEN/ Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, both in 2020.

Gutiérrez uses poetry, non-fiction and critical writing to explore their perspective as a queer and brown writer. Their work encompasses migration from Mexico and Central America, desire and colonization and the U.S. Southwest. They are a 2021 recipient of the Rabkin Prize in Arts Journalism. Their writing has appeared in Art in America, The Georgia Review and on NPR Music. They teach poetry in the MFA program.

Writing West celebrates the growing literary connections between the High Desert Museum and OSU-Cascades’ MFA program. One example, the Waterston Desert Prize Writing Prize, a museum program, was founded by MFA faculty author Ellen Waterston.

The event is $5 and members of the High Desert Museum receive a 20 percent discount. Registration is free to OSU-Cascades students. To register, visit highdesertmuseum.org/events.

To register visit highdesertmuseum.org/events. osucascades.edu • highdesertmuseum.org