ASU poet gets MacArthur ‘genius’ grant, worth $625K
A poet at Arizona State University was awarded a prestigious MacArthur “genius” grant Wednesday, making her one of 25 people in the country who won the fellowship.
Natalie Diaz, a poet who teaches in ASU’s English Department, will receive $625,000 over the next five years from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Diaz’s poetry draws on “her experience as a Mojave American and Latina to challenge the mythological and cul-
tural touchstones underlying American society,” the foundation said.
In a video by the MacArthur Foundation, Diaz talks about being queer, indigenous and Latinx, and how her identities inform her work.
She said she was first a linguist, and her work helping preserve the Mojave language was one of the most important things she’s ever done.
She played basketball and was an athlete, which ties into her work as a poet.
““I really believe in the physical power of poetry, of language,” she said in the video. “Where we come from, we say language has an energy, and I feel that it is a very physical energy. I believe in that exchange, and to me it’s very similar to what I did on a basketball court.”
She said she hopes to offer visibility to queer people and show how they have been hurt and erased, but also how they deserve and express love.
Her ASU bio says she was born and raised in the Fort Mojave Indian Village in California, and she’s an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community.
Her first poetry collection, “When My Brother Was
“Any goodness come my way is connected to the hearts and minds who have been generous with me in love, conversation, wonder, language and story. Of all the things I’m made of, part of me is made of incredible friendships and thinkingships.” Natalie Diaz
On Twitter, in response to award
an Aztec,” was published in 2012. She has another book, “Post-Colonial Love Poem,” coming out in 2020, according to ASU Now.
Bryan Brayboy, the director of the Center for Indian Education at ASU, told ASU Now that Diaz is a “magician with words.”
“Many of us have seen Natalie’s genius up close. It is powerful, profound and provocative. Her presence changes conversations for the better,” Brayboy said.
After the recipients were announced Thursday, Diaz posted on Twitter that she’s been lucky in her life.
“Any goodness come my way is connected to the hearts and minds who have been generous with me in love, conversation, wonder, language and story,” she tweeted. “Of all the things I’m made of, part of me is made of incredible friendships and thinkingships.”
How the grants work
The foundation awards fellowships, commonly called “genius” grants, to people who have “outstanding talent” in their fields, from writers to scientists to artists. The money goes directly to the individual, rather than to an institution, to allow them to pursue their work, the foundation’s website says.
Fellows can use the money to “advance their expertise, engage in bold new work, or, if they wish, to change fields or alter the direction of their careers.” The money is considered an “investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential” that will allow awardees to “exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society,” according to the MacArthur Foundation’s website.
Other recipients this year include writers, artists, a biophysical engineer, a chemist, an economist, socialjustice advocates, a human-rights lawyer, a planetary scientist, an investigative journalist and more.
The foundation outlines three criteria for fellows: “exceptional creativity,” “promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishments,” and “potential for the Fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.”