Roxy Gordon
Roxy Lee Gordon (March 7, 1945 – February 7, 2000) was a Choctaw and Assiniboine poet, novelist, musician, multimedia artist, and activist[1]. Described as a "progressive country witness and outlaw poet"[2], Gordon often used spoken vocals accompanied by music that mixed Native American rhythms with country and western themes and musicians working in Texas.
Roxy Gordon | |
---|---|
Born | March 7, 1945 Ballinger, Texas |
Died | February 7, 2000 |
Occupation(s) | Poet, Novelist, Musician, Activist |
Instruments | Guitar, Drums, Vocals |
Gordon was raised and lived later in his life in Talpa, Texas[3]. In the late 1960s, he and his wife Judy, lived in Lodge Pole, Montana where he published the Fort Belknap Notes, a newsletter of the Fort Belknap reservation.[2] In the 1970s, he and his wife moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and ran a country music magazine, Picking up the Tempo. Gordon was also involved in the American Indian Movement (AIM) and helped found a local chapter in Dallas.[2] His writing was featured in Rolling Stone and The Village Voice[4] and he ran a small publishing company called Wowapi.[5]
In addition to music and spoken word, Gordon published six books and more than 200 poems, articles, and short fiction; he also coauthored two plays with his wife[6]. Gordon had a following in England[7] as well as the U.S. and his circle included singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt and others who respected poetic narratives.[8]
Works
- Some Things I Did (1979), ISBN 978-0884260127
- Breeds[11] (1984) Austin, Tex.: Place of Herons, ISBN 0916908283
- Unfinished Business (1985)
- At play in the Lord's fields (1986)
- West-Texas Mid Century (1988)
- Crazy Horse Never Died (1989)
- Kerrville Live (1993)
- Revolution in the Air (1995)
- Smaller Circles (1997)
- Townes Asked Did Hank Williams Ever Write Anything As Good As Nothing (2001)
Reference
- TNSF (2018-08-22). "Southern Lit Presents: Roxy Gordon | The New Southern Fugitives". Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- Jasinski, Laurie E. (2012-02-22). Handbook of Texas Music. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-87611-297-7.
- Seventh generation : an anthology of Native American plays. D'Aponte, Mimi,, Theatre Communications Group (First ed.). New York. 1999. ISBN 1-55936-147-6. OCLC 38886676.CS1 maint: others (link)
- Liles, Jeff (2000-05-11). "Some things he did". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- "Roxy Gordon on Native American Authors". Retrieved 2012-08-14.
- "GORDON, ROXY LEE [FIRST COYOTE BOY] | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)". tshaonline.org. 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- Greaves, Brendan (2018). "What I Learned from Gay Country, Communist Disco, and a Choctaw Poet's Sermon on Immigration". Southern Cultures. 24 (3): 6–29. doi:10.1353/scu.2018.0029. ISSN 1534-1488.
- Polish Gypsy with Ghost. Chapbook and vinyl single, 1993.
- McClinton-Temple, Jennifer; Velie, Alan (2015-04-22). Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature. Infobase Learning. ISBN 978-1-4381-4057-5.
- "Roxy Gordon Memorial Page". Archived from the original on 2004-04-04. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
- Davis, R. M. (1986). Roxy gordon: "breeds" (book review). Studies in Short Fiction, 23(3), 333.