Karen Coody Cooper

Karen Coody Cooper writes history, poetry, essays, and fiction. Spirited Encounters: American Indians Protest Museum Policies and Practices (AltaMira Press 2008) reflects Cooper's museum career as well as her Cherokee citizenship. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she first studied journalism before switching to anthropology, and then earned a masters in liberal studies from the University of Oklahoma. Working in several museums including the Smithsonian Institution, she lived 20 years in Connecticut, 14 years in Maryland, 10 years in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and currently lives in Florida. She co-edited a volume about American Indian museums called Living Homes for Cultural Expression (National Museum of the American Indian 2006), available for free download from the NMAI website. Her poetry book, Fault Line: Vulnerable Landscapes (soddenbank press 2009) won 2010 Best Book of Poetry from the Oklahoma Writers Federation and was an Oklahoma Book Award finalist. She self-published Cherokee Wampum War and Peace Belts: 1730 to Present (soddenbank press 2013). Recent books are Oklahoma Cherokee Baskets and Oklahoma Black Cherokees, both published by History Press. She co-founded Tahlequah Writers, an active group promoting writing and reading in Northeastern Oklahoma. She also is known for editorials and POVs published in the Tulsa World and Palm Beach Post.