POETRY | Lance Henson

Lance David Henson was born in Washington, D. C. in 1944, is a Tsistsistas (Cheyenne) poet, writer and cultural activist. He grew up living the Southern Cheyenne culture and is a graduate of Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts (now University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma)
in Chickasha. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Tulsa.

After ten years of conducting poetry workshops through the Artist in Residence program of the State Arts Council of Oklahoma, Lance began to travel, working both in the U.S. and in Europe.

Lance is a member of the Cheyenne Dog Soldier Society, the Native American Church and the American Indian Movement (AIM).

He has participated in Cheyenne Sun Dance on several occasions as both dancer and painter. He has published 28 books of poetry, half in the U.S. and half abroad.
His poetry has been translated into 25 languages and he has read and lectured all over the world.
He has co-written two plays, one of which, Winter Man, had a successful run at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company. His play Coyote Road played to sell out audiences in Versailles, France in December 2001.