Poetry reading by Dr. Laura Tohe

The Art Gallery will feature a visit and poetry reading by Arizona Poet Laureate, Dr. Laura Tohe. 

An award-winning poet and writer, Dr. 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.

Tohe’s work has been published nationally and internationally. Her oral history book, Code Talker Stories, features a series of interviews with Navajo Code Talkers and their descendants. She has been recognized with numerous awards including the 2025 Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award, the Academy of Poets Fellowship Award 2020-2021, the 2019 American Indian Festival of Words Writer’s Award, the Faculty Exemplar Award from Arizona State University, and the Dan Shilling Public Scholar Award from the Arizona Humanities, and she was nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize. She holds a doctoral degree in Creative Writing and Literature from University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

“Over the course of her career, Dr. Tohe has distinguished herself as a poet, librettist, and writer of both fiction and nonfiction. She is a storyteller whose words reflect the heart, history, and hopes of our state. As Poet Laureate, Dr. Tohe will continue Arizona’s tradition of creativity and help inspire the next generation of writers.” - Governor Katie Hobbs

This event is co-sponsored by Maricopa Community Colleges American Indian Outreach under the direction of Ray Ostos, Mesa Community College (MCC) Cultural Science, Philosophy & Religious Studies Department Faculty Chair Paul Harasha, MCC Dean of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Leanna Hall and accompanies Rooted in Relations - Authenticity and the Power of Indigenous Sovereignty a group art exhibition that celebrates the interconnection, strength, and sovereignty that flow from Indigenous relationships—with land, language, culture, and community, on display through April 2.