In an essay titled “Recalling Celilo,” award winning poet Elizabeth Woody says “The salmon, the tree, and even Celilo Falls (Wyam) echo within if we become still and listen. Once you have heard, take only what you need and let the rest go.” Known for poetry rooted in the natural world, her people and family, Elizabeth Woody shares her work at Second Sunday, the Library’s celebration of the written word and Pacific Northwest writers. The reading begins at 2:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. An open mic follows the reading and Woody’s books will be available for sale.

Sunday, October 11, 2015 | 2:00 p.m.
Downtown Bend Library

“Woody’s poetry acts as a tool for rebuilding history, reconstituting dignity, and communicating culture,” says reviewer Judy Elsley. Woody (Navajo/Warm Springs/Wasco/Yakama) has published poetry, short fiction, essays and is a visual artist. Her first collection of poetry, Hand Into Stone, received a 1990 American Book Award. Two collections, Luminaries of the Humble, by the University of Arizona Press, and Seven Hands, Seven Hearts, Prose and Poetry, by The Eighth Mountain Press, were both published in 1994. As an artist she has exhibited regionally, served as a juror for several arts organizations in the Pacific Northwest and illustrated Sherman Alexie’s poetry collection Old Shirts and New Skins (1993).

A member of the Tódích'íinii (Bitter Water clan), Woody received the William Stafford Memorial Award for Poetry from the Pacific Northwest Bookseller’s Association in 1995. She was a finalist in the poetry category for the Oregon Book Awards for 1994 and is an alumna of the first Kellogg Foundation’s Fellowship through the AIO Ambassadors program. From 1994-1996, Woody was a professor of creative writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM. Woody earned a BA in the humanities from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University.

For more information about this or other library programs, please visit the library website at www.deschuteslibrary.org. People with disabilities needing accommodations (alternative formats, seating or auxiliary aides) should contact Liz at 312-1032.