Shonda Buchanan 
Senior Lecturer of African American Studies | Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA, UNITED STATES
Shonda Buchanan is an award-winning poet and educator who explores race, ethnicity, migration, class, community and culture in her work.
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Biography
Award-winning poet and educator Shonda Buchanan is the author of Black Indian, her memoir, and two collections of poetry, Who’s Afraid of Black Indians?, and Equipoise: Poems from Goddess Country. An international presenter at venues such as the International Poetry Festival in Havana, Cuba and Athens Institute for Education & Research in Greece, as well as a journalist and professor, Shonda explores race, ethnicity, migration, class, community and culture. Literary Editor of Harriet Tubman Press, Shonda’s poetry and essays have been featured in numerous anthologies. Freelance writer for the LA Weekly since 1992, and Indian Country Today, the Los Angeles Times and the Writer’s Chronicle, Shonda recently completed a collection of poetry about the iconic singer, concert pianist and Civil Rights activist, Nina Simone.
Education (3)
Antioch University-Los Angeles: M.F.A., Creative Writing & Poetry 2010
Loyola Marymount University: M.A., English with Creative Writing Emphasis 2003
Loyola Marymount University: B.A., English with Creative Writing Emphasis
Areas of Expertise (6)
Strategic Communications
Public Speaking
English with Creative Writing
Creative Writing
Copy Editing
Social Media Marketing
Industry Expertise (2)
Education/Learning
Writing and Editing
Affiliations (1)
- Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Foundation
Links (1)
Media Appearances (4)
What to read, listen to and watch to learn about institutional racism
PBS News Hour online
2020-06-05
Talking with some of the voices featured on the PBS NewsHour, as well as sharing some of our own recommendations, we’ve compiled a list of things for you to read, listen to and watch that might illuminate your understanding. This list is just a starting point. “Black Indian: A Memoir” by Shonda Buchanan..
'Black Indian' With Shonda Buchanan: An Extended Conversation
Montana Public Radio online
2020-06-11
Shonda Buchanan can tell a story like no other. Her writing pulls at the thread of truth with deep compassion, grace, and humor. In this conversation, she shares what it means to be Black Indian both within intimate family relations as well as in the broader cultural and historical contexts...
Locs in the Sweat Lodge: On Shonda Buchanan’s “Black Indian”
Los Angeles Review of Books online
2019-11-06
AWARD-WINNING POET Shonda Buchanan honors multiple literary traditions in her breathtaking new memoir, Black Indian. An educator, freelance writer, and literary editor, Buchanan is a culture worker with deep, decades-long engagement in communities of color...
SHONDA BUCHANAN REFLECTS ON MULTIRACIAL ROOTS IN A POWERFUL NEW MEMOIR
LA Weekly online
2019-09-10
“I think my mother could see in my wet eyes when I was born that I didn’t know how to keep my mouth, the way she would say it — I often felt like my stomach was on fire if I didn’t say the thing burning in my mouth,” Shonda Buchanan writes in her compelling new memoir, Black Indian...
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