10/08/2026
https://www.facebook.com/InstituteofAmericanIndianArts/posts/pfbid0265jDJ21gjdD6bTnGanpMEiqRAQ6GnNY7uvpV5fYe5THUAPf3kuv9eu7mBdNrRctHl
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is pleased to announce that IAIA alum and MFA in Creative Writing faculty mentor Layli Long Soldier (Oglala Lakota) ’09 has been named a 2026 MacArthur Fellow. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the 2026 class of Fellows on Tuesday, September 29, recognizing individuals across a range of fields for their exceptional creativity and promise for continued contributions through their work.
The MacArthur Fellowship is an unrestricted $800,000 award provided over five years, allowing recipients the freedom to pursue their creative, intellectual, and professional work without specific requirements or reporting obligations.
Long Soldier is a poet and artist whose work examines the possibilities and consequences of language, particularly its relationship to Native American histories, identity, kinship, and community. Through experimental poetic forms, visual composition, and other media, her work considers how language can obscure history while also creating possibilities for connection, understanding, and transformation.
“We are deeply proud of Layli and this remarkable recognition of her work. Her writing reminds us of the power of language to carry history, kinship, memory, and responsibility while creating new ways of seeing and understanding one another. As an IAIA alum and a mentor in our MFA in Creative Writing program, Layli continues to share her knowledge and experience with emerging writers, and we are honored to share in this moment with her,” said IAIA President Dr. Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo).
Read more on our website at https://iaia.edu/iaia-alum-layli-long-soldier-named-a-2026-macarthur-fellow/
Photograph by Ben Calabaza, courtesy of Layli Long Soldier.