Luci Tapahonso, a UA professor of American Indian studies and English, is Navajo and a native of Shiprock, N.M.

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For University of Arizona professors Luci Tapahonso and Ofelia Zepeda, poetry is an evolving language.

Once reserved for more elite or literary settings, melodic words in rhythm or rhyme today have permeated mainstream culture via poetry slams, open mics in coffeehouses and the Internet.

Last month, the University of Arizona Press released two collections individual to each author's experiences yet intertwined with their Native American cultures.

Stanfield native Zepeda is a Regents Professor of Linguistics at the UA; she has been at the school nearly 20 years. Her poetry reflects a unique vision of the contemporary world around her, as seen through the lens of her Tohono O'odham ancestry. She is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship for her work in American Indian language education.

Dedicated to preserving her native language, Zepeda has written two previous books: "Ocean Power: Poems of the Desert," which offers both English and Tohono O'odham translations for each poem; and "A Tohono O'odham Grammar."

Her most recent collection, "Where Clouds Are Formed", offers her outlook on everyday life in the desert.

Shiprock, N.M., native Tapahonso is a professor of American Indian studies and English at the UA. She also has written previous books, including "Blue Horses Rush In" and "Sáanii Dahataal: The Women Are Singing." She is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native American Writers Circle of the Americas.

Her most recent collection of stories and poems, "A Radiant Curve," is culled from an everyday journal of her musings and recollections.

Turn the page to read what each author has to say about her latest work.

Zepeda: "I sort of came to it later after I'd come here to the UA. When I first got exposed to the study of Native writers in literature, a lot of (them) were poets. I really appreciated that kind of writing. As far as my own work is concerned, when I wrote I only wrote in O'odham, and that was done for my language students here at the university to create a body of writing students could use as part of their curriculum.

"Because O'odham people have a strong appreciation for creativity in the language, the early poems were influenced in part by the O'odham songs — with very short, repetitive patterns."

Tapahonso: "I've always liked poetry. I grew up in a household where Navajo was spoken, so there was a deliberate use of language. When I learned to read, I really liked the idea being able to create that same kind of atmosphere with reading rather than having somebody tell you.

"That connection was made early on. I was drawn to poetry because of the rhythm and the power it contains."

Tapahonso: "Not anything specifically. But I was really excited about the CD (included with the book) because I wanted to show how a Navajo approach in speech and song go together and how that's an essential way of expression. I wanted to get across the idea of how poetry, song and speech are a part of the Sacred."

Zepeda: "This collection, like the previous one, took some years to complete. It's always an ongoing process. There's no basic intention on my part. Eventually, you accumulate a small body of writing, then you think, 'Well maybe this is going to turn into a book.'"

Zepeda: "A lot of ideas and themes in this collection also occur in the 'Ocean Power' collection. Both of them have pieces that deal with elements of the environment here in the desert. That's something that I always tend to write about, certainly ideas that stem from the O'odham culture.

"In this new collection, I have some things that are based in part on my own experiences. It wouldn't be an experience that my sister had, for example."

Tapahonso: "It just goes with the flow. I don't really have a particular emotion in mind. Whatever piece I'm working on, the more I work with it the more I refine it. It takes on its own ability."

Tapahonso: "In some ways it's really dynamic and forceful. Young people in high school in this area have poetry slams. Some poets take the stage and they become another person because they have so much to say. Originally, poetry was an oral form of communication.

"Somehow it moved away from that as people became more educated. It became more of an elitist art. In some sense, it's returning to the community — like the idea of hearing poetry on the Internet."

Zepeda: "In any literature, poetry included, there's a lot of flexibility in the venues you can experience it in. The book is certainly one source. But you see poetry appearing in lots of interesting places and spaces.

"The Internet is one of those new venues. There are lots of Web sites featuring established writers and new writers — places where people can self-publish. . . . It's a new opportunity for having poetry out there."

See a Q&A with the poets.

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