Deborah A. Miranda is an enrolled member of the Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation of the Greater Monterey Bay Area in California, with Santa Ynez Chumash ancestry. In addition to Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir, winner of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award, she is the author of four poetry collections (Indian Cartography, The Zen of La Llorona, Raised by Humans, and Altar for Broken Things). In 2022, the 10th anniversary edition of Bad Indians was released, with 60+ additional pages of materials. After 20 years of university teaching, Deborah resigned her tenured teaching position to focus on scholarship and poetry involving Indigenous California’s history and literatures. She remains emerita at Washington and Lee University, where she was Thomas Broadus Jr. Endowed Chair of English. She continues to guest lecture, teach poetry and memoir workshops, and write. Workshops include The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, The Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing at Oregon State University/Cascades, The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, and private settings. Deborah’s current scholarship is a collection of essays based on the stories of Isabel Meadows, an Indigenous woman born in 1846, who left behind extensive documentation of Indigenous cultures and histories in and around Carmel Mission in California. Deborah and wife, writer Margo Solod, live Eugene Oregon.

Website: deborahmiranda.com

Publications

• Raised by Humans , Tia Chucha/Northwestern (2015)
• Altar for Broken Things , BKMK Press (2020)
• Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir , Heyday Books (October 2013)
• The Zen of La Llorona , Salt (2005)
• Indian Cartography , Greenfield Review Press (1999)
• Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir 10th Anniversary Edition , Heyday Books (October 12, 2022)
• Sovereign Erotics: An Anthology of Two-Spirit Literature (co-editor) , U of Arizona Press (2011)
• When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through (contributing editor) , Norton (August 2020)

Awards

• Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship(2011)
• Nomination for Pushcart Prize for “Cousins (Victor)”(2011)
• Institute of American Cultures Fellowship, UCLA(2007)
• Finalist, Lambda Literary Award for Sovereign Erotics(2012)
• Silver Medalist, Independent Publisher’s Award for Sovereign Erotics(2012)
• Pathfinder Award, Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers for Sovereign Erotics(2012)
• Finalist, ForeWord “Book of the Year” Reviews for Sovereign Erotics(2012)
• Nomination for Lambda Literary Award (Zen of La Llorona)(2005)
• National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute: “Native American Literature and Community” at Evergreen State College(2003)
• Connie Leach Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Achieving a Doctoral Degree; Seattle Indian Services Commission(2001)
• Hedgebrook Invitational Residency, Hedgebrook Cottages for WomenWriters(2000)
• Writer of the Year (Poetry), from the Native Writer’s Circle of the Americas(2000)
• Diane Decorah Memorial First Book Award for Poetry, from the Native Writer’s Circle of the Americas (Indian Cartography)(1997)
• Gold Meda for Bad Indiansl, Independent Publishers(2013)
• PEN/OAKLAND Josephine Miles Literary Award for Bad Indians(2015)

Employment

• Full Professor at Washington and Lee University (August 2004 - June 2021)
• Assistant Professor at Pacific Lutheran University (September 2001 - June 2004)

Degrees

• Doctoral Degree in English from University of Washington (June 2001)

Genres of Interest

Fiction, Creative nonfiction, Children's literature , Poetry