Born in Albuquerque, N.M. of mixed ancestry, Silko grew up on the LagunaPueblo Reservation. She received critical acclaim with the publication of hernovel Ceremony, the story of a mixed-heritage war veteran's strugglesafter returning to his Indian reservation following World War II. The bookestablished Silko as an important artist from the American Indian community.
Silko's other writings include the novel Almanac of the Dead; LagunaWoman, a collection of poems; Storyteller, a fiction and poetrycollection; and The Delicacy and Strength of Lace, a collection ofcorrespondence with poet James Wright who died of cancer. Writing for theSaturday Review, James Polk said Silko's "perceptions are accurate, andher style reflects the breadth, the texture, the mortality of her subjects."She has been called the first Native American woman novelist, and the mostaccomplished Indian writer of her generation.
Silko has read and lectured at leading universities throughout the U.S. Shehas been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a prestigious"genius" grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Hernovel Almanac of the Dead has been translated into German, and herpoetry has won a Chicago Review award and a Pushcart Prize.
