Laura Tohe (she/her)

An award-winning poet and writer, Laura Tohe was born in Fort Defiance, Arizona, and grew up speaking both Diné bizaad/Navajo language and English. She is a professor emerita of English at Arizona State University, where she taught for 24 years. Dr. Tohe previously served as Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation from 2015 to 2025. Dr. Tohe is the second person in the state’s history to serve as Arizona Poet Laureate.

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Awards: Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas (NWCA) Lifetime Achievement Award; Guest Editor. Poem a Day. Academy of American Poetry; American Academy of Poets Fellowship Award; Navajo Nation Poet Laureate; American Indian Festival of Words Writer’s Award; Nominated for Pushcart Awards

Communities: Arizona Author, Indigenous or Native American, Navajo Nation member

Meet the New Poet Laureates

Join us as Mayor Regina Romero introduces the new Tucson Poet Laureate and the new Arizona Poet Laureate for their inaugural readings. Both laureates will serve as official ambassadors for poetry, building a public life for poetry in Southern Arizona and throughout the state.

Student Union Kiva (Seats 100)  
Sun, Mar 15, 4:00 pm - 4:55 pm
Poetry
Signing area: Sales & Signing - UA Campus Store Main Floor (following presentation)  

Panelists: Logan Phillips, Laura Tohe
Moderator: Tyler Meier
Sponsors: Session made possible courtesy of City of Tucson, Max McCauslin and John Smith

Book:

Tséyi' / Deep in the Rock

Deep in the Rock : Reflections on Canyon de Chelly
Poetry
University of Arizona Press
January 2005
ISBN 9780816523719
49 pages