Diane Yohn

Diane Yohn

   Mesa, AZ

Writer for stage, television, film, novella, & poetry. Visual artist in photography & computer art with showings at San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, CA, Santa Barbara Arts Pavilion; cover art for numerous books (“The Secret Power of Naming”, “Love in the Fast Lane”, “I Was Indian” Volume II)

CURRENTLY: Advisory Board Member for Wild Blackhorse Press ~ Where Indigenous Writing Thrives: www.wildblackhorsepress.com

Currently accepting and perusing submissions for an anthology of indigenous erotica.

Retired from the following:
Founder & Artistic Director of Ableza & Facyt – Native American Arts Association & its youth theatre counterpart, First Americans Conservatory Youth Theatre.
Endowed Chair for Radio, T.V., & Film – San Jose State University
Intersession programs in Oral Tradition at Stanford University.

Guest lectures include:
Stanford University
University of Washington – Seattle
University of California – Santa Barbara, Riverside, Hayward
Humboldt State University
University of Georgia – Athens.

Keystone Speaker & Presenter for the American Alliance of Theatre & Education – Salt Lake City, UT.

Feature Presenter of original works:
American Literary Association National Conference in Long Beach, CA: “Full Circle” – a one-woman multimedia play.

Native American Literature Symposium:
In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico: “EverySkin’s Day In Court”
In Mystic Lake, MN: “Raw Pearl”

Presenter:
International Alternative Theatre Conference: Alternative Space – University of San Francisco
California Arts Council Conferences – Lake Pomo, CA & Asilomar

Awards:
Arts Council of Silicon Valley Fellowship in Playwriting for “Tiospe”
Frank Silvera’s Writers Workshop Award (NYC) for “Tiospe”
American Theatre Association National Award for “The Aftermath”
National as well as International Women’s Conference Arts Awards for “Pros & Cons”

Recent Publications:
Volumes I & II of “I Was Indian” Native American Literature Anthologies of 2010 & 2012
SableLit Magazine 2010 – Indigenous Writers Issue
Yellow Medicine Review 2008

Alleged co-conspirator in Kolawin-gate & The Lodgepole Bar; cover-art and poetry contributor for Native American erotic literature collection entitled “Moon of the Popping Cherries”; and even wilder controversies.

MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST

What did the Fellowship or Laureate mean to you at the time you received it?

Being a recipient of the Fellowship was a both a key recognition in the arc of the life of my play "Tiospei," as well as a launch into other realms and genres of writing.

What do you do now? Has your art evolved or changed?

I am currently in publishing negotiations for my latest work, a novel with a working title "Feeding Spirits," another work rooted in my Native American (Cheyenne/Lakota) heritage. I have had excerpts from this work as well as poetry published in Yellow Medicine Review, I Was Indian - Volumes I & II, and Sable Literary Magazine (UK). Plus I've done commissioned cover art for several publications.

What is one piece of advice you would give to an emerging artist?

Be **self-defining** and tenacious. Evolve from your work. Let others do the lying.

Briefly, how would you describe the state of the arts locally, as well as national and beyond?

Dynamic and explosively instant revolutions.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS