TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS HELPS HASKELL STUDENTS
WRITE THEIR "NATURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHIES"

Photo: Meg Kearney

Terry Tempest Williams, one of America's most highly acclaimed writers and environmentalists, spent the week of March 31, 2003, at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, as part of the Foundation's American Voices community outreach project.

Co-sponsored by Haskell Indian Nations University - which serves nearly 1,000 American Indian students representing more than 150 indigenous Nations - Ms. Williams's residency featured talks and writing workshops for students, faculty, and members of the community.

"The week at Haskell Indian Nations University was one of the most beautiful and profound teaching experiences of my life," said Ms. Williams. "I don't know how else to state it. It was truly transformative."

In order to prepare for Ms. Williams' visit, students and teachers from English, Environmental Writing, Poetry, and Fiction writing classes received free copies of Williams' book Refuge in advance. Each class was then able to meet twice with her, during which time she worked with them on writing their "natural autobiographies."

Photo: Meg Kearney

"As Native American writers, we were encouraged to write with our own voice despite our position as the minority of minorities. It is vital for the preservation of Native American heritage that our experiences and traditions be written and read," said Haskell student Bryna Lawrence. "I am grateful for the visit with Terry Tempest Williams and my free copy of Refuge. I will also look for her book Leap. I hope there are many more interactions like this. Thank you."

Students, faculty, and members of the Lawrence community also had two opportunities to hear Ms. Williams read. One event was held at the University, and another at the Prairie Park Nature Center, where more than 100 people came to hear her read and speak with the audience.

Photo: Meg Kearney

This is the first time the National Book Foundation and Haskell Indian Nations University have partnered on an author residency. Dr. Denise Low-Weso, Chair of the English Department at the University, worked with the National Book Foundation to coordinate Williams's visit.

This program is made possible through funding from Michel Roux/The Grand Marnier Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and several individual donors. Student copies of Ms. Williams' books were donated by Vintage Books.

Newsweek magazine has identified Terry Tempest Williams as someone likely to make "a considerable impact on the political, economic, and environmental issues facing the western states." Born in 1955, she grew up within sight of the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is best known for her book Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. Her other

Photo: Meg Kearney

books include Red: Patience and Passion in the Desert; Leap; Coyote's Canyon; Pieces of White Shell: A Journey into Navajoland; and a collection of essays titled An Unspoken Hunger. She has also published two children's books, The Secret Language of Snow and Between Cattails.

The Utne Reader named Terry as one of their "Utne 100 Visionaries" and "a person who could change your life." She has received a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and a Literary Fellowship in Creative Nonfiction from the Lannan Foundation.

Ms. Williams has served as visiting professor of English at the University of Utah and naturalist-in-residence at the Utah Museum of Natural History. She lives in Castle Valley, Utah, with her husband, Brooke Williams.