Paula Gunn Allen: In A Native American Voice

An award-winning author and poet dedicated to gathering and disseminating authentic Native American literature speaks out on a great variety of topics that reveal many facets of her own background and worldview. We hear of the Laguna Pueblo land in New Mexico where she was raised, and the special quality of places where habitation by humans "and supernaturals" has been stable and continuous for centuries. She shares some of her favorite aspects of contemporary Native American literature, and her hope for a renewal of American culture of all kinds. "It is the end of the world, from some people's point of view," says Allen, "but it's the renewal of something more ancient and more true."

She is a professor of English at UCLA, and the author of several books including Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Native American Women's Traditional Short Stories (Ballantine 1990), The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Tradition (Beacon Press 1992) and Voice of the Turtle: American Indian Literature 1900-1970 (Ballantine 1994).

New Dimensions seeks out the most innovative and creative people on the planet and engages them in spontaneous, deep dialogues. Its mission is to deliver life-affirming, socially and spiritually relevant information, practical knowledge and perennial wisdom through the voices and visions of those who are asking new questions and are looking at the world in positive and inspiring ways. It is through the exchange of ideas and information that we can be empowered and enabled to meet the future with greater energy and clarity.