Seeds of Language, Seeds of Stories: Nitsáhákéés (Thinking Creatively)

In partnership with AZ Humanities, Phoenix Public Library at South Mountain, and the Labriola Center, this session is the first of a four-part creative writing workshop program that is open to storytellers at all levels and to the general public. The four sessions will take place throughout February 2026 with a culminating event held at the Blue Corn Fest on Saturday, March 7, 2026. This is the first workshop session for Seeds of Language, Seeds of Stories, hosted by Manny Loley at South Mountain Community College Public Library. Parking is accessible and close by to the South Mountain Community Library (see attachments for a map),

About Workshop Session 1: Nitsáhákéés (Thinking Creatively)
To think about how we build a relationship with our languages, this initial session will focus on a single word—naadą́ą́’ (simply translated as corn). We will be thinking about our relationship with naadą́ą́’ (and in extension planting) to generate ideas about how we can expand our thinking about and engagement with language. How are we looking at our languages on a deeper level? How can we create a deeper understanding? What are the philosophies present within words in our languages? What can these ideas teach us about being human and about our relationship with the physical spaces we inhabit? While we will be looking at a Diné conceptualization of the word “corn,” participants are encouraged to also work from the word for “corn” in their ancestral/heritage language. This initial meeting will focus on creativity and generative writing exercises and discussion.

Materials needed: something to write and take notes with, the word for “corn” in your ancestral/heritage language, and an open mind.
About our host:

Dr. Manny Loley is ‘Áshįįhi born for Tó Baazhní’ázhí; his maternal grandparents are the Tódích’íi’nii and his paternal grandparents are the Kinyaa’áanii. He holds a Ph.D. in English and Literary Arts from the University of Denver, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing-Fiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Dr. Loley is an inaugural Indigenous Nations Poets Fellow, a founding member of Saad Bee Hózhǫ́: Diné Writers’ Collective, and the editor for Leading the Way: Wisdom of the Navajo People. Since 2018, he has served as director of the Emerging Diné Writers’ Institute. His work has found homes in Poetry Magazine, Pleiades Magazine, the Massachusetts Review, the Santa Fe Literary Review, Broadsided Press, the Arkansas International, The Gift of Animals, Nihikéyah: Navajo Homeland, and the Diné Reader: an Anthology of Navajo Literature, among others. His writing has been thrice nominated for Pushcart Prizes. Dr. Loley is at work on a novel titled They Collect Rain in Their Palms. He is from Tsétah Tó Ák’olí on the Navajo Nation.

The room at SMCL will be L162, on the first floor of the library.