Please join us for an evening of poetry and talk with Ray Young Bear. Some of Young Bear's poetry,--in English and Meskwaki--is part of the 150th Sesquicentennial Arts Showcase, which will be performed Oct. 8th at GBPAC. On September 23rd, Ray Young Bear will be on campus to visit with the choral class who will perform his work, and later provide a talk and reading open to the public in Bartlett Hall 1017. 

Ray Young Bear is the author of many books of poetry, fiction, and essays, most recently Manifestation Wolverine: The Collected Poetry of Ray Young Bear In March 2025, two of Ray's Meskwaki word-songs for “Fireflies” and “Milkweeds” were published in A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker, 1925 - 2025.  His work appears in the North American Review and The New Yorker. Young Bear has received numerous honors and awards, including a 2016 American Book Award, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and an honorary doctorate in letters from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Most recently, he’s the recipient of the 2026 James A. Autry Award for Poetry and Leadership from the Iowa Poetry Association.  

Young Bear and his wife, Stella, also co-founded the Woodland Singers and Dancers. Among his accomplishments, Young Bear cherishes the ability to speak and write in his first language. He presently lives on tribally-owned land that was established by his maternal grandfather, a hereditary chief, in 1856. 

This event has been funded in part by the UNI Faculty Senate, the Department of Languages & Literatures, and the North American Review.