Luci Tapahonso (born November 8, 1953)[1][2] is a Navajo poet and a lecturer in Native American Studies.

[5] There she first met the novelist and poet Leslie Marmon Silko, who was a faculty member and who proved to be an important influence on Tapahonso's early writing.

She initially intended to study journalism at New Mexico, but Silko convinced her to change her major to creative writing.

[5] Following Silko's lead, Tapahonso's early work is often mystical and places much importance on the idea of the feminine as a source of power and balance in the world.

[7] Her 1993 collection Saánii Dahataal (the women are singing), written in Navajo and English, was the first to receive international recognition, a reputation then cemented by blue horses rush in a book of poetry and memoirs published in 1997.