My name is Hershman John. I come from the Navajo reservation and I
am a full time faculty member at Phoenix College, in the English Department.
I received my undergraduate and graduate degree both from Arizona
State University, in 1998. My writing reflects who I am and where
I come from. I am Navajo, and I am from Sand Springs, Arizona. My
clans are of the Deer Spring People (my Mother's clan) and the Bitter
Water People (my Father's clan). Other stories and poems come from
my travels and from my friends and family who tell some of the greatest
tales.
I
currently am a full time faculty member at Phoenix College and I teach
part time at ASU . I teach Freshman English Composition, creative
writing, poetry, literature, and professional writing. I have even
created a course in comic book writing as I am a comic book fanatic.
Teaching has been a positive experience for me, as well as my students
who I look to for knowledge and stories. Respect must be for everyone,
and that's also what I teach as my students learn who I am and learn
who they are.
I
feel lucky, as I have been widely published in literary magazines
across the country. I have been published in Hayden's Ferry Review,
Journal of Navajo Education, Arizona Highways, Puerto
del Sol, Family Matters: Poems of Our Families, O
Taste and See: Food Poems, Wicazo Sa Review, just to
name a few.
My book of poetry
has been accepted for publication by the University of Arizona Press;
it will be called I Swallow Turquoise for Courage. It is
to be released in Fall 2007. I am very excited to see my hard work
finally paying off in the form a published book. The journey of the
book has been a long one, almost ten years for around 62 pages of
poetry. I am currently working on my second book tentatively titled,
History of the Ankle. With a full time profession of teaching
5 classes a semester it’s hard to find time to write, but I manage.
Thank you for taking some time to enjoy my work.
One of the many
stories that I use in my poetry is the Diné Creation Story. I have
shown how this poem is told in many different layers. It starts with
the worlds the Diné had to travel through to the present, the Glittering
World of "Now." The stories of many different holy ones are told throughout
the poem--such as First Man, First Woman, Coyote ... and ultimately
us.
We
are all part of the same Storm Pattern Rug.
Webmaster
johnn@hershmanjohn.com