Silko, Leslie

Silko, Leslie (b. Marmon)

(1948– ) writer, poet; born in Albuquerque, N.M. Born of Laguna Indian, Mexican, and Anglo-American heritage, she was raised on a Pueblo Indian Reservation, and studied at the University of Mexico (B.A. 1969). She was a teacher and wrote poetry, short stories, and novels, most of which draw on her Laguna heritage. Ceremony (1977), a novel, established her reputation as an important writer and she won a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant in 1981. She lived in Tucson, Ariz.