TLA Videos: Tim McLaughlin

Another newcomer to the TLA Poetry Round Up was teacher, poet, and anthologist, Timothy McLaughlin. Tim is also the founding director of the Spoken Word Program at the Santa Fe Indian School. He has worked in Native communities since 1997, beginning at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, then at Arlee High School on the Flathead Reservation in Montana and currently at the Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico.

He and his students have been featured in the New York Times, on the PBS News Hour, and in an HBO series about teen poetry. They have won numerous awards in state and national competitions. Originally from Washington DC, Tim lives in Santa Fe with his wife and daughter.

His first published book is Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School and it features work by fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Kirkus Reviews describes it as "A moving, fascinating glimpse across cultures."

Here he share insights about his Lakota students and how poetry is an organic part of Lakota language and culture.