The Figge Art Museum presents Ray Young Bear -- July 29.
Thursday, July 29, 6:30 p.m.
Presented by the Figge Art Museum
A much-lauded poet and novelist who hails from Marshalltown, Iowa, Native American writer Ray Young Bear will be the special guest in a July 29 virtual poetry reading hosted by Davenport's Figge Art Museum, the author 's works having been previously published in periodicals including Parnassus, Ploughshares, and American Poetry Review.
Ray Young Bear was born in Marshalltown, and lived on Iowa's Meskwaki Tribal Settlement. Raised by his maternal grandmother No-ko-me-sa for the first 10 years of his life, Young Bear spoke Meskwaki as his first language, and was encouraged to also learn English by No-ko-me-sa, whom Young Bear claims as the greatest influence in his writing. As a youth, Young Bear attended an Upward Bound program at Decorah's Luther College, later attending the University of Iowa and Grinnell College. He eventually met poet Robert Bly, and through the poet's influence, Young Bear was able to take meetings with many editors that ultimately led to his work getting published. Young Bear also studied at Pomona College between 1969 and 1971, where he took advantage of the chance to hear readings by visiting poets.
Young Bear has taught creative writing as well as Native American Literature at the Institute of American Indian Art, Eastern Washington University, Meskwaki Indian Elementary School, the University of Iowa, and Iowa State University. He first wrote poetry in Meskwaki and began to translate his work into English, publishing his first poem in 1968. Young Bear has stated that the first audience that he considers while writing are his own tribal members, and he adds that he always keeps No-ko-me-sa in mind while writing, saying, "My grandmother was always giving me advice on how I should watch what I say, because she would say that the single word itself is very, very powerful."
The author writes about the dislocation of contemporary Native Americans who are pulled by two different cultures, and while Young Bear has also written some prose fiction, he says that "all his writing is merely experiments with words." His novels Black Eagle Child (1992) and Remnants of the First Earth (1996) describe Young Bear's youth through the character of Edgar Bearchild. They combine first-person narrative, letters, religious imagery, and poetry, and their author often switches between English and the Meskwaki language to express himself more fully. Meanwhile, Young Bear has had numerous poetry collections over the decades, ranging from 1975's Young Grandmother to 2001's The Rock Island Hiking Club to 2015's Manifestation Wolverine: The Collected Poetry of Ray Young Bear.
Ray Young Bear's virtual poetry reading on July 29 begins at 6:30 p.m., viewing of the hour-long presentation is free, and registrants will receive a Zoom link two hours prior to the program. For more information, call (563)326-7804 and visit FiggeArtMuseum.org.
