Janice Gould (1949–2019) was a Koyangk'auwi (Konkow, Concow)

Maidu The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...

writer and scholar. She was the author of ''Beneath My Heart'', ''Earthquake Weather'' and co-editor with Dean Rader of ''Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary American Indian Poetry''. Her book ''Doubters and Dreamers'' (2011) was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award and the Binghamton University Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award. Gould's poetic efforts were recognized by the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice in 1992.

Biography

Gould was born on April 1, 1949, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and grew up in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

. She graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, earning degrees in Linguistics (B.A) and English (M.A.). She also earned a master's degree in Library Science (M.A) from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. She completed a certificate in Museum Studies. Her Ph.D. (English) was completed at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. She was the Hallie Ford Chair in Creative Writing at

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

. In 2012 Gould completed a residency for Indigenous Writers at the

School for Advanced Research The School for Advanced Research (SAR), until 2007 known as the School of American Research and founded in 1907 as the School for American Archaeology (SAA), is an advanced research center located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. Since 1 ...

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

. She was also a musician who played

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

. Her lesbian identity has been a prominent theme of her work.

Career

Gould taught at over 13 colleges and universities in the fields of English, Creative Writing, Native American Studies and Women's Studies, and served as the Hallie Ford Chair of Creative Writing at

. At the time of her death, she was an associate professor in Women's and

Ethnic Studies Ethnic studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race, ethnicity, and nation, but also sexuality, gender, and other such markings—and power, as expressed by the state, by civil society, and by indivi ...

, and

Native American Studies Native American studies (also known as American Indian, Indigenous American, Aboriginal, Native, or First Nations studies) is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues, spirituality, sociology and co ...

at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

. From 2014 to 2016, Gould served as the Poet Laureate of Pike's Peak. She published 8 books. These books range from collections of her own poetry, chapbooks, art books and anthologies of essays. Her poetry has been published in over 60 journals, reviews and anthologies. Gould was the recipient of many awards for her literary achievements, including the Ford Dissertation Fellowship, the Astraea Foundation Grant, a "Spirit of the Springs" Award from the City of Colorado Springs, and from Native Literatures: Generations.

Themes

Gould's work contains themes of “love, loneliness, longing for connection, family, history, place, and music”. She uses the term "Indigenous Assemblage" to categorize race, sex, and gender, as Gould was mixed-blood and identified as a lesbian. According to Shanna Lewis, Gould's ''The Force of Gratitude'' features the resurgence of traditional Indigenous identity to explain that her father was Two Spirited.

Selected bibliography

Select articles

* American Indian Women's Poetry: Strategies of Rage and Hope * What Happened to My Anger? * Lesbian Landscape

Selected books

* ''Seed (2019)'' * ''The Force of Gratitude (2017)'' * '' Doubters and Dreamers (2011)'' *''Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary Indigenous Poetry'' (2003, editor with Dean Rader) * '' Earthquake Weather (1996)'' * ''Beneath My Heart (1990)'' * ''Alphabet (1996)''

Grants and scholarhips

Janice Gould is recognized for her poetry and scholarship and therefore has a long list of awards. A few of her most significant accomplishments are as follows: *Native Writer-in-Residence, School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, Winter 2012. * Native Literature Generations Award, 2011. * Association of Research Libraries Diversity Scholars Fellowship, 2007. * Knowledge River Scholar, University of Arizona, 2006-2008. * National Museum of the American Indian Internship, 2007. * Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, 1994-95. *ASTREA Foundation Award for poetry, 1992. * National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) literary fellowship, 1989.

References

External links

Official Janice Gould site

Colorado Report
blog by Janice Gould {{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Janice Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni University of New Mexico alumni University of Arizona alumni Willamette University faculty University of Colorado Colorado Springs faculty Native American poets Maidu people American lesbian writers 1949 births American women poets American women academics 21st-century American women writers 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American people 21st-century Native American women 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets Native American academics Poets from California Academics from California Writers from San Diego Native American women writers 21st-century Native American writers Native American women poets