Duane Niatum

Duane Niatum spent his childhood living between Seattle and Port Hadlock. His Klallam/​Twana grandfather, Francis Patsy, was an early influence with his many tales of family history and tribal stories.

Duane’s poems, stories and essays have appeared in over one hundred magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and Europe. His work has been translated into fourteen languages. He has won many awards, including The National Book Award for Songs for the Harvester of Dreams, and was nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize. He was invited to read at The International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and at The Library of Congress.

Duane’s writing is grounded in the Pacific Northwest landscape and its creatures, birds, animals and plants, along with Klallam stories and characters, and is also influenced by the rich European culture of painting and writing. He is an enrolled member of the Klallam Tribe (Jamestown Band).

He has a Ph. D. in American Studies from the University of Michigan/​Ann Arbor, and has taught grade school, high school and at several US universities, most recently at Western Washington University.

Duane’s published books of poetry include the following:
After the Death of An Elder Klallam, 1970
Ascending Red Cedar Moon, 1974
Digging Out the Roots, 1977
Songs for the Harvester of Dreams, 1981
Drawings of the Song Animals, 1991
The Crooked Beak of Love, 2000
Agate Songs on the Path of Red Cedar, 2010
and the most recent, The Pull of the Green Kite, 2011

He has published two anthologies;
Carriers of the Dream Wheel: Contemporary Native American Poetry,
Harper’s Anthology of 20th Century Native American Poetry.

Unpublished book-length works include the following:
His Collected Poems
Young Woman with Monkey Flowers in Her Hair and Other Traditional Klallam Stories; a collection of stories from the Klallam tradition
For Her with No Regrets; a collection of contemporary stories
Alternative American Art Style: Four Interconnected Aesthetic Views;
A volume of 4 essays on artists, including Alfredo Arreguin, Edmonia Lewis, John Hoover, and Northwest Native American artists.