John G. Neihardt
American novelist and poet John G. Neihardt reading to his students in a class at the University of Missouri at Columbia, c. 1960s.
John G. Neihardt
American poet
Also known as: John Gneisenau Neihardt
Quick Facts
- In full:
- John Gneisenau Neihardt
- Born:
- January 8, 1881, near Sharpsburg, Illinois, U.S.
- Notable Works:
- “Black Elk Speaks”
- “A Cycle of the West”
John G. Neihardt (born January 8, 1881, near Sharpsburg, Illinois, U.S.—died November 3, 1973, Columbia, Missouri) was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer who described the history of Native Americans, especially the Oceti Sakowin (Sioux) people. His best-known works are Black Elk Speaks (1932), an autobiography of the Oglala Lakota warrior and holy man Black Elk, and A Cycle of the West (1949). Neihardt was born in Illinois but grew up in Kansas and Nebraska, after his family moved west when Neihardt was 11 years old. He attended Nebraska Normal College (now Wayne State College), working as the campus ...(100 of 999 words)