Duane Niatum

Duane Niatum (McGinniss) (born 1938-) is a Native American poet, author and playwright of Klallam descent.

Niatum is often cited as belonging to the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has termed the Native American Renaissance.

Life
Duane Niatum, S'Klallam [Jamestown Band], was born in Seattle, WA in February 13, 1938 and has spent most of his life there. At 17, he enlisted in the Navy and spent two years in Japan. Returning, he completed his undergraduate studies in English at the University of Washington in 1970. In 1972 he obtained an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University. As a graduate student there, Duane taught American and European literature writing seminars. After receiving his Masters degree, he served as editor of the Harper and Row Native American Author Series. He then taught English and literature in high school in Seattle for 2 years and edited the Carriers of the Dream Wheel anthology. He has also worked with the elderly in the Artist in the City program of the Seattle Arts Commission. Recently Duane returned to graduate school and received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in the Program in American Culture. In his dissertation, he discusses the life and art of the Aleut sculptor, John Hoover.

Niatum has taught as a Visiting Instructor at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, the University of Washington, Eastern Washington University, Seattle Central Community College, Western Washington University, Northwest Indian College and the University of Michigan. In addition he has held a Visiting Instructorship at the Foundation Scholaire et Culturelle Internationale Complexe de Valbonne in Valbonne, France. He has been a teaching curriculum developer, "History and Culture of the Northwest Coast Indian", in the College of Education at the University of Washington and an assistant librarian in libraries at the University of Washington and the New York Historical Society.

Niatum has worked in the Poets in the Schools programs in Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. He has given numerous poetry readings, including the Portland Poetry Festival, the Anacortes Arts Festival, Phoenix Indian High School, the University of California at Berkeley. He has held residencies at the Millay Colony for the Arts in 1976 and at Yaddo in 1977. He has been invited to read at the International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and at the Library of Congress. Besides judging poetry for the Washington Poet's Association and the King County Arts Commission, he has served as guest editor Pacific Search in 1975, Niagara in 1976, and Western Edge in 1978. His poetry has appeared in over 100 magazines and newspapers, including Prairie Schooner and The American Poetry Review, and over 40 anthologies. It has been translated into thirteen languages, including Dutch, Macedonian, Russian, Danish, Polish, Icelandic and Frisian.

Recognition
Songs for the Harvester of Dreams was awarded the American Book Award from *the Before Columbus Foundation in 1982;
 * First Prize in Poetry, Pacific Northwest Writer's Conference, 1966, 1970; Third Prize in Poetry, 1968;
 * Honorable Mention in Poetry, Scholastic Magazines, Inc. 1968;
 * Mary K. Dearborn Literature Award, Seattle Music and Art Foundation, 1968.
 * Governor's Award, State of Washington, 1971;
 * Carnegie Fund for Authors grant, 1975; PEN Fund for Writers, 1976;
 * Poetry in Public Places Award, American International Sculptor's Symposium, New York City, 1979.
 * Poetry in Motion grant award, Allied Arts Foundation, Seattle, WA, 1981;
 * Nelson Bentley Award, Dept. of English, University of Washington, 1982;
 * Certificate of Literary Achievement, Book Club of Washington, 1982.
 * Community Scholar Grant, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 1990.

Publications

 * Breathless. Seattle, WA: University of Washington, 1968.
 * After the Death of an Elder Klallam. Phoenix, AZ: Baleen Press, 1970. ISBN 0-912074-00-0
 * Ascending Red Cedar Moon. New York: Harper & Row, 1973. ISBN 0-06-451150-2
 * Taos Pueblo and other poems. Greenfield Center, NY: Greenfield Review Press, 1973. ISBN 0-912678-08-9
 * A Cycle for the Woman in the Field. Laughing Man Press, 1973.
 * Carriers of the Dream Wheel: Contemporary Native American Poetry. Harper & Row, 1975. ISBN 978-0-06-451151-3
 * Turning to the Rhythms of Her Song. Seattle, WA: Jawbone Press, 1977.
 * Digging out the roots: Poems New York: Harper & Row, 1977. ISBN 0-06-451155-3
 * To Bridge the Dream. Laguna, NM: A Press, 1978.
 * Songs for the Harvester of Dreams. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1981. ISBN 0-295-95758-1
 * Pieces New York: Strawberry Press, 1981.
 * Raven and the Fear of Growing White. Amsterdam, Holland: Bridge Press, 1983.
 * Stories of the Moons. Marvin, SD: Blue Cloud Quarterly Press, 1987.
 * Drawings of the Song Animals: New and Selected Poems. Duluth, MN: Holy Cow! Press, 1991, ISBN 0-930100-43-3
 * Stories from the land of red cedar Seattle, WA, 1999.
 * The crooked beak of love Albuquerque, NM: West End Press, 2000. ISBN 093112296