Paula Gunn Allen Summary

An American educator and critic, Lincoln is the author of several books on Native American literature and culture. In the excerpt below, which appeared in 1982 as the foreword to Shadow Country and wh... Read more

An editor and critic, Bruchac helped establish the Greenfield Review Magazine and Press, which frequently promotes and publishes Native American literature. In the review below, she praises Spider Wom... Read more

In the following, Milspaw faults the uneven quality of the essays included in The Sacred Hoop, but argues that the collection "is enormously important to our understanding of the growing body o... Read more

In the essay below, Van Dyke offers a thematic analysis of The Woman Who Owned the Shadows, arguing that Allen employs tribal concerns to discuss alienation, sexual identity, lesbianism, and, more spe... Read more

Ruta is an American short story writer. In the following, she praises Allen's storytelling skills, focus on Native American myth, and incorporation of historical fact in Grandmothers of the Lig... Read more

In the following excerpt, Ruppert discusses Allen's use of personal and mythic space in her poetry. Much of Allen's work is a search for meaning, an attempt to understand natural harm... Read more

Hoffman is an American novelist, scriptwriter, and short story writer. In the following mixed review, she faults The Woman Who Owned the Shadows for its sentimentality, didacticism, and broad focus, b... Read more

An educator, editor, and critic, Jahner teaches English and Native American Studies. In the review below, she offers a thematic discussion of The Sacred Hoop, praising Allen's incorporation of ... Read more

Eysturoy specializes in American Studies. In the following interview which took place in March, 1987, after a poetry reading held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Allen discusses the impact of the American... Read more

In the following essay, Jaskoski locates Allen's poem “Grandmother” within traditional Pueblo traditions and mythology. “grandmother” Out of her own body she push... Read more

In the following essay, Holford underscores the role of memory and writing in Ephanie's quest for self-discovery in The Woman Who Owned the Shadows. Paula Gunn Allen's novel The Woman... Read more

In the following essay, Ferrell contends that Grandmothers of the Light provides insight into a “personal and empowering transformation” and examines the complexities involved with ident... Read more

In the following interview, Allen discusses her work and the progress of Native American studies. The following conversation took place at Chateau de la Bretesche in Brittany on June 25, 1997, imme... Read more

In the following review, the critic offers a favorable assessment of Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat. In what is presented as the first study of its kind by an American Indi... Read more