The Missoulian and The New York Times have both published obituaries on Great Plains Indian poet James Welch (he was Blackfoot/Gros Ventre), who died at 62 at his home in Missoula, Montana last Monday, August 4.
Welch studied poetry at the University of Montana with Richard Hugo, who encouraged him to write about Indian life on the reservation, the land & people among whom he grew up. (He wrote about this in his introduction to Lopez Books’ catalog of Native American literature. He had many friends among Montana writers and is remembered by Sherman Alexie in the Great Falls Tribune as his literary father and a remarkably kind man.
Unfortunately, none of his spare, direct and lovely poems are online -- so you’ll have to get a copy of one of his books to read them. The Internet Public Library’s Native American Authors Project has links to online profiles of Welch and a listing of his books, and there is an especially good bibliographical essay on Welch at dancingbadger.com.
Welch studied poetry at the University of Montana with Richard Hugo, who encouraged him to write about Indian life on the reservation, the land & people among whom he grew up. (He wrote about this in his introduction to Lopez Books’ catalog of Native American literature. He had many friends among Montana writers and is remembered by Sherman Alexie in the Great Falls Tribune as his literary father and a remarkably kind man.
Unfortunately, none of his spare, direct and lovely poems are online -- so you’ll have to get a copy of one of his books to read them. The Internet Public Library’s Native American Authors Project has links to online profiles of Welch and a listing of his books, and there is an especially good bibliographical essay on Welch at dancingbadger.com.
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