Jake Skeets was an ARC Poetry & the Senses Fellow in 2022.
Jake Skeets (he/him) is Tsi’naajínii born for Tábąąhá; his maternal grandparents are the Táchii’nii and his paternal grandparents are the Tódík’ózhí. Skeets is Diné from Vanderwagen, New Mexico. His debut collection of poetry, Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers, is a winner of the National Poetry Series, American Book Award, Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and Whiting Award. His honors include a 2020-2021 Mellon Projecting All Voices Fellowship and the 2023-2024 Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi.
His poems and essays have been included in Poetry, New York Times Magazine, Ploughshares, and other journals. His research around poetics and aesthetics explore Diné poetics and aesthetics, ecopoetics, Indigenous queer theories, and critical Indigenous feminisms. His work “Form, Memory: Mapping Land through Diné Poetry” is included in the book Níhi Kéyah: Navajo Homeland, edited by Lloyd L. Lee, published by the University of Arizona Press. He was awarded an National Endowment for the Arts Grant for his Counter Mapping Arizona project that will bring four Indigenous artists together to discuss mapping, art-making, and artistic ecosystems.