dg nanouk okpik

dg nanouk okpik is a Inupiaq-Inuit poet. She received the American Book Award for her debut poetry collection, Corpse Whale (2012).

Education

okpik attended the University of Southern Maine, earning an MFA. She was the recipient of the Truman Capote Literary Trust Scholarship. She is also an alumna of the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Career

okpik is a resident advisor at the Santa Fe Indian School. She received the American Book Award for her debut poetry collection, Corpse Whale, which was published in 2012 and received praise from critics. In a review for Studies in American Indian Literatures, Jasmine Johnston described Corpse Whale as "both surreal and mythic", praising okpik's imagery and code-switching between Inuit and English. Diego Báez, writing for Booklist, called it a "captivating debut" and similarly commended okpik's use of Inuit vocabulary.

Personal life

She was raised in Anchorage, Alaska, and currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Published works

• 2009: Effigies: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from the Pacific Rim (book, featured: Salt Publishing, ISBN 978-1844714070)
• 2011: Sing: Poetry from the Indigenous Americas (book, featured: University of Arizona Press, ISBN 978-0816528912)
• 2012: Corpse Whale (University of Arizona Press: ISBN 978-0816526741)

Selected poetry

• 2009: "For-The-Spirits-Who-Have-Rounded-The-Bend IIVAQSAAT"
• 2012: "Cell Block on Chena River"
• 2012: "Warming"
• 2012: "If Oil is Drilled in Bristol Bay"
• 2012: "The Pact with Samna"
• 2012: "Little Brother and the Serpent Samna"
• 2018: "A Year Dot"
• 2018: "Necklaced Whalebone"
• 2018: "Found"
• 2020: "When White Hawks Come"