Meet the Native Writer Awardee: Shauna Osborn

The Taos Summer Writers’ Conference is pleased to announce poet Shauna Osborn as the recipient of the Native Writer Award. Based on the strength of her application, Osborn was awarded admission to the weeklong Conference, where she will take a poetry workshop from renowned poet Luci Tapahanso. Of the Conference, Osborn says, "I want to gain an understanding of the writers that will be there, and I look forward to talk about the craft of writing." Traveling from Albuquerque, Osborn eagerly anticipates to the change of scenery Taos offers, and the impact it will have on her work.

As a child in rural Oklahoma, Osborn was drawn to writing fiction and poetry. Turning her attention completely to poetry in high school, Osborn was and continues to be concerned with “the little moments in life that others might miss.” She believes, “as a writer, we often come back to things we’re trying to understand in a different way.” For Osborn, poetry holds an important therapeutic place in a community, and she often works with a variety of groups and schools to extend its power. Some of her current projects include a book length chorepoem, a hybrid work of theater, choreography and poetry, called Red Earth Woman and White Buffalo Gal Go to Mexico.

A reading, free and open to the public, will be given by Osborn on Tuesday, July 16th at 12:30 PM, at the Sagebrush Inn, Taos, NM.