Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is an American poet and editor. Her debut book, ''Dog Road Woman'', won the

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

and was the first finalist of the Paterson Poetry Prize and Diane DeCora Award. Since then, she has written five more books and edited eight anthologies. She is known for addressing issues of culture, prejudice, rights, the environment, peace, violence, abuse, and labor in her poetry and other creative works.

Early life and education

Coke was born in Amarillo, Texas, to a family she claims were of French-Canadian, Alsatian, English, Irish, Welsh, Portuguese,

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

, and

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands

Career

She held a

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Distinguished Visiting Professor/Writer appointment for

Hartwick College Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York. The institution's origin is rooted in the founding of Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick. In 1927, the Seminary moved to expand into a ...

(2004). She is an original and emeritus fellow of the Black Earth Institute Think-Tank, a MacDowell Colony for the Arts Fellow, a Hawthorden Castle Fellow, a Soul Mountain Fellow, a Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities Fellow, a

Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

residency fellow, and a current

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

Center for Great Plains Studies Fellow (flagship campus). She served as the Distinguished Paul W. Reynolds and Clarice Kingston Reynolds Endowed Chair in English, and as an Associate Professor of Poetry & Creative Writing in the English Department of the

University of Nebraska at Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is a campus of the public University of Nebraska system and located in Kearney, Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. History In March 1903 the Nebraska Sta ...

(2007–2012) and University of Nebraska low-residency MFA program (2007–current). She was visiting Artist of the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO or Central State) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with more than 17,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founde ...

(2012–2014), and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

(2014). She has also served as a Visiting Writer for the University of California Riverside (2014) and University of California Riverside–Palm Desert (2008), and taught for

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...

, the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Kilian College, and the

University of Sioux Falls The University of Sioux Falls (USF) is a private BaptistChristian university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. In fall 2014, the university enrolled a total of 1,142 undergraduate students and ...

. Hedge Coke is a founding faculty member of the full residency

Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in low-residency and residential programs. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, ...

MFA program in Writing and Publishing (2015–), teaches for

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

's Red Earth MFA (2016–), and is visiting faculty for the Summer Writing Program at Naropa University. She has directed the annual Literary Sandhill Crane Retreat, in conjunction with her studies in migration patterning influence on flyway communities, since 2007. Hedge Coke is a distinguished professor of creative writing at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

Poetry

Hedge Coke's work ''Blood Run'', a free verse poetry collection of 66 poems, was inspired by the traditions of the Native American

Mound Builders A number of pre-Columbian cultures are collectively termed "Mound Builders". The term does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks erected for an extended period of more than 5 ...

and their earthworks. ''Blood Run'' revives the history of the sites giving profound voice to humans, animals, plants and structures, also with political-ecological hope for the future to preserve ancient spiritual places. The poems show a mathematical patterning based on the numbers four, three and seven and on the sequence of the first 24.

primes A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

. In Hedge Coke's ''Streaming'', the poem, ''America I sing you back'' was born not out of anger but concern for what she saw happening in the United States 12 years ago, alarmed by the greediness of politicians to take natural resources from the land. ''America I sing you back'' can be interpreted as an alternate view to the identity of America, following in the footsteps of Walt Whitman's poem, ''I Hear America Singing'' and Langston Hughes, ''I too''.

Discography

*''Streaming'', Long Person Records (Yvwi Gvnahita), with trio project Rd Klā (album)

Bibliography

*''Burn'' (Illustrated by Dustin Mater), MadHat Press, 2017 (Poems) *''Effigies III,'' Editor,

Salt Publishing Salt Publishing is an independent publisher whose origins date back to 1990 when poet John Kinsella launched ''Salt Magazine'' in Western Australia. The journal rapidly developed an international reputation as a leading publisher of new poetry ...

, UK, 2019 *''Streaming'', Coffee House Press (poems). *''Effigies II: An Anthology of New Indigenous Writing.'' Editor,

. 2014 Native America Calling Book of the Month *''Rock, Ghost, Willow, Deer'', University of Nebraska Press (memoir, paperback edition), *''Sing: Poetry of the Indigenous Americas'', Editor, University of Arizona Press. 2011. *''Effigies: An Anthology of New Indigenous Writing'', Pacific Rim, Editor, Salt Publishing. 2009. *Acquisition editor: ''Bone Light'' by Orlando White, Red Hen Press. 2009. *''Ahani: Indigenous American Poetry'', Editor,

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

. *''Blood Run'', Salt Publishing (free

verse play Verse drama is any drama written significantly in verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significant portio ...

poems) *''Off-Season City Pipe'', Coffee House Press (poems) *''From the Fields'', editor, California Poets in the Schools Press. *''Rock, Ghost, Willow, Deer'', University of Nebraska Press (memoir) *''They Wanted Children'', editor, Sioux Falls School District Press. (

Sioux Falls School District (South Dakota) Sioux Falls School District is a public school district located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. Sioux Falls School District serves nearly 24,000 students. The district has 23 elementary schools, 6 middle schools and 4 high schools ...

) *''Coming to Life'', editor, Sioux Falls School District Press, (Sioux Falls School District) *''Dog Road Woman : Poems'', , Coffee House Press. *''Year of the Rat'', (Chapbook) Grimes Press. *''It's Not Quiet Anymore: New Work from the Institute of American Indian Arts'', Co-Senior Editor with Heather Ahtone,

Institute of American Indian Arts The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic S ...

Press.http://www.spdbooks.org/Products/14794/its-not-quiet-anymore-new-work-from-the-institute-of-american-indian-arts.aspx *''Voices of Thunder: New Work from the Institute of American Indian Arts'', Co-Senior Editor with Heather Ahtone,

Press.

In anthology

*Melissa Tuckey, ed. ''Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology''.

University of Georgia Press The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is the university press of the University of Georgia, a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. It is the oldest and largest publishing house in Georgia and a ...

, 2018.

Books edited or co-edited

*''Effigies III,'' Editor'','' Salt Publications, UK, 2019 *''Effigies II: An Anthology of New Indigenous Writing''. Editor, Salt Publishing. 2014"http://www.saltpublishing.com/writers/profile.php?recordID=208324 " *''Sing: Poetry of the Indigenous Americas'', Editor, University of Arizona Press. 2011. *''Effigies: An Anthology of New Indigenous Writing'', Pacific Rim, Editor, Salt Publishing. 2009. *''Bone Light'' by Orlando White, series editor, Red Hen Press. 2009."http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/i-dont-stand-alone-poets-orlando-white-and-sherwin-bitsui-on-the-importance-of-mentors/"> *''From the Fields'', Editor, California Poets in the Schools Press. *Ahani: Indigenous American Poetry", Editor, Oregon State University.

. *''They Wanted Children'', editor, Sioux Falls School District Press. Sioux Falls School District (South Dakota)

Poems and stories of coping. The Lost Boys from Sudan, American Indian students, Immigrant... *''Coming to Life'', editor, Sioux Falls School District Press. Sioux Falls School District (South Dakota).

Poems of Peace After 9–11. *''It's Not Quiet Anymore: New Work from the Institute of American Indian Arts'', Co-Senior Editor with Heather Ahtone, Institute of American Indian Arts Press.

Press. *''Voices of Thunder: New Work from the Institute of American Indian Arts'', Co-Editor with Heather Ahtone, Institute of American Indian Arts Press.

Awards

Witter Bynner Fellowship Witter Bynner Fellowships are administered by the Library of Congress and sponsored by the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, an organization that provides grant support for poetry programs through nonprofit organizations. Fellows are chosen by t ...

Appointed by the US Poet Laureate,

Juan Felipe Herrera Juan Felipe Herrera (born in December 27, 1948) is an American poet, performer, writer, cartoonist, teacher, and activist. Herrera was the 21st United States Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017. Herrera's experiences as the child of migrant farmers ...

, 2016. *Winner: 2015 IPPY Award – Bronze Medal (Independent Publisher Book Awards) *Four Pushcart Prize nominations in 2009 for work published in 2008. * Fellow

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Center for Great Plains Studies. 2008–current. *'' South Dakota Arts Council Collaborative Grant'' in 2008–9. *''Paul Hanly Furfey Lecture''. An Endowed Lecture.

Association for the Sociology of Religion The Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR) is an academic association with more than 700 members worldwide. It publishes a journal, '' Sociology of Religion'', and holds meetings at the same venues and times as the American Sociological A ...

. Boston, MA. 2008. *''Journal of the Year Editor'' in 2006–2007 '' Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers'' ''To Topos International Journal of Poetry'' ''Ahani: Indigenous American Poetry'' Oregon State University. 2008. *''King Chavez Parks Teaching Award''

. 2005. *''South Dakota Arts Council Artist Fellowship'' 2002. *''Excellence in Teaching Awards'' Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation. 2002 and 2004. *''South Dakota Arts Council'' ''Individual Artist Project Grants/Fellowships'' 1999, 2002. *''South Dakota Arts Council'' ''Artist in Residence'' 1998–current. *''Abiko Quarterly'' ''Editor's Choice Award''. Cid Corman, Editor. 1995.

References

Sources

* “Allison Adelle Hedge Coke.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/allison-adelle-hedge-coke. * “Allison Adelle Hedge Coke.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org/poet/allison-adelle-hedge-coke. * “Blood Run.” Salt, Salt Publishing, www.saltpublishing.com/products/blood-run-9781844712663. * Brooks, Mary Jo. “America, I Sing You Back.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, November 15, 2016, PBS/newshour/arts/poetry/america-sing-back.

External links

Hedge Coke's blog