Layli Long Soldier

{{Infobox writer

| name = Layli Long Soldier

| image = Layli Long Soldier 172902.jpg

| years_active = 2010–present

| nationality = Oglala Lakota

| alma_mater = {{flatlist|

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| occupation = {{flatlist|

Artist
Writer

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| awards = {{flatlist|

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Layli Long Soldier is an Oglala Lakota poet, writer, feminist, artist, and activist.

Early life and education

Long Soldier grew up in the Four Corners region of the Southwest, where she continues to live and work to advocate against the continued, systematic oppression of Indigenous populations.{{Cite web |url=https://arts.cgu.edu/tufts-poetry-awards/layli-long-soldier-respecting-the-sentence |title=Layli Long Soldier: Respecting the Sentence |website=Tufts Poetry Awards |language=en-US |access-date=April 27, 2019}} She graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with a Bachelor's in Fine Arts and went on to earn a Master's at Bard College.{{cite web |last1=Levin |first1=Jennifer |title=A tradition of storytelling: The new landscape of Native literature |url=http://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/books/a-tradition-of-storytelling-the-new-landscape-of-native-literature/article_bc5a950a-769d-57f0-8804-3dc8d8a8f78d.html |publisher=The Santa Fe New Mexican |accessdate=December 8, 2016 |date=August 19, 2016}}

Career

In 2010, Layli Long Soldier published the chapbook Chromosomory.{{cite web |title=Layli Long Soldier |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/layli-long-soldier |access-date=December 8, 2016 |publisher=The Poetry Foundation}} In 2013, she participated in the art exhibit Pte Oyate at the Red Cloud Indian School, alongside Roger Broer, Michael Two Bulls, and Keith Brave Heart.{{cite news |last1=Darr |first1=Deanna |title=Exploring the buffalo bond: 'Pte Oyate' exhibit links art, culture |url=http://rapidcityjournal.com/blackhillstogo/explore/on-the-cover/exploring-the-buffalo-bond-pte-oyate-exhibit-links-art-culture/article_a76dae7b-839f-5dfa-8313-e0a40218e753.html |accessdate=December 9, 2016 |date=December 12, 2013}}

In 2015, Long Soldier joined the faculty in the English department of Diné College.{{cite web | title=Diné College course catalog 2015-2016 | website=dinecollege.edu | date=2020-10-20 | url=https://www.dinecollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2015-08-10 General Catalog AY1516.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240819045509/https://www.dinecollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2015-08-10%20General%20Catalog%20AY1516.pdf | archive-date=2024-08-19 | url-status=dead | access-date=2025-06-01}} Long Soldier is an editor of the journal Drunken Boat and the poetry editor for Kore Press.

Her first volume of poetry, Whereas, was published in 2017 by Graywolf Press.{{cite news |title=Layli Long Soldier Wins 2016 Whiting Award |url=https://www.graywolfpress.org/blogs/layli-long-soldier-wins-2016-whiting-award |accessdate=December 9, 2016 |publisher=Graywolf Press |date=March 24, 2016}}Diaz, Natalie (August 4, 2017). "[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/books/review/whereas-layli-long-soldier.html A Native American Poet Excavates the Language of Occupation]". Review of Layli Long Soldier, Whereas. New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2017. Print version, August 6, 2017, under title "An Occupied Language", Sunday Book Review, p. 20. The collection explores the systemic violence against and cultural erasure of Native tribes in the United States through a thoughtful investigation of language.{{Cite web |url=https://www.kenyonreview.org/reviews/whereas-by-layli-long-soldier-738439/ |title=Everything Is In the Language We Use: A Review of Whereas by Layli Long Soldier |website=The Kenyon Review |language=en |access-date=April 27, 2019}} Whereas responds to the cautiously phrased and quietly passed 2009 U.S. Congressional Apology to Native Peoples for the history of genocidal policies and actions enacted by the United States Federal government against Indigenous peoples. In writing these poems, Long Soldier studied similar apologies from governments worldwide to Indigenous peoples and considered the nature of an authentic apology.{{Cite web |title=Layli Long Soldier — The Freedom of Real Apologies |url=https://onbeing.org/programs/layli-long-soldier-the-freedom-of-real-apologies-oct2018/ |access-date=August 3, 2020 |website=The On Being Project |language=en-US}}

The volume's longest poem, the five-page "38," recounts how 38 Sioux warriors were hanged, with the approval of President Lincoln, after the 1862 Sioux Uprising on December 26, 1862. Long Soldier writes, "This was the same week that President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation."{{Cite web |last=Lichtenstein |first=Jesse |date=August 12, 2018 |title=How Poetry Came to Matter Again |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/09/chen-chen-aziza-barnes-layli-long-soldier/565781/ |access-date=August 3, 2020 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}} Long Soldier read this poem in the documentary Lakota Nation vs. United States, forming one of the narrative backbones of the film.{{cite web | last=White | first=Abbey | title=‘Lakota Nation vs. United States’ Directors on Capturing the Evolving Battle for Indigenous Land Rights: We’re “Still Hemorrhaging People” | website=The Hollywood Reporter | date=2023-12-13 | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/lakota-nation-vs-united-states-directors-indigenous-land-rights-still-hemorrhaging-people-1235742565/ | access-date=2025-06-01}}

Whereas also invokes personal experiences, including Long Soldier's reflections on her relationship with her daughter and motherhood.

Awards and honors

2015 Lannan Literary Fellowship{{cite news |last1=Lerner |first1=Lawrence |title=Professor A. Van Jordan Wins the 2015 Lannan Literary Award for Poetry |url=http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/professor-van-jordan-wins-2015-lannan-literary-award-poetry |accessdate=December 9, 2016 |publisher=Rutgers University |date=November 20, 2015}}
2016 National Artist Fellowship from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
2016 Whiting Award{{cite news |title=Whiting Foundation Announces Winners of 2016 Awards for Writing |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/whiting-foundation-announces-winners-of-2016-writing-awards/ |accessdate=December 9, 2016 |work=New York Times |date=March 23, 2016}}
2017 National Book Award for Poetry, finalist for Whereas{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2017-national-book-award-finalists/ |title=2017 National Book Award finalists revealed |date=October 4, 2017 |work=CBS News |access-date=October 4, 2017 |language=en}}
2017 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, winner for Whereas{{cite web |url=http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/national-book-critics-circle-announces-winners-for-2017-awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316234023/http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/national-book-critics-circle-announces-winners-for-2017-awards |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 16, 2018 |title=National Book Critics Circle Announces Winners for 2017 Awards |publisher=National Book Critics Circle |author=Katie Tuttle |date=March 15, 2018 |accessdate=March 17, 2018}}
2018 Griffin Poetry Prize, shortlisted for Whereas
2018 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, winner for Whereas{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/76113-pen-america-literary-awards-2018.html |title=Long Soldier, Zhang, Le Guin Win At 2018 PEN Literary Awards |work=Publishers Weekly |author=John Maher |date=February 21, 2018 |accessdate=February 21, 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://pen.org/2018-winners/ |title=The 2018 PEN America Literary Awards Winners |publisher=PEN America |date=February 20, 2018 |accessdate=February 21, 2018}}
2021 Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize for Whereas{{Cite web |last=Dami |date=2020-08-07 |title=Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize Competition |url=https://englishassociation.ac.uk/michael-murphy-memorial-prize-poetry-competition/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=The English Association |language=en-GB}}

Works

{{cite book |last=Long Soldier |first=Layli |title=Chromosomory |publisher=Q Ave Press |year=2010 |location=Lubbock, TX |author-mask=2}}
{{cite book |last=Long Soldier |first=Layli |title=Whereas |title-link=Whereas (book) |publisher=Graywolf Press |year=2017 |isbn=9781555977672 |location=Minneapolis |author-mask=2}}