A specialist in American Indian literature will recount his experiences on a Navajo reservation at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, in 259 Hodges Hall on West Virginia Universitys downtown campus.

Paul Zolbrod will speak onThe Rosy Fingers of a Navajo Dawn: Teaching, Learning and Relearning in a Reservation Community.The talk is free and open to the public.

A former English professor at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., Zolbrod took early retirement eight years ago to teach on a Navajo reservation. The experience of teaching, sleeping on the library floor and reflecting on how Navahos regard the solar year has taught Zolbrod an appreciation of his own western heritage and given him a new awareness of the environment.

Zolbrod is the author or co-author of many books on Indian literature. They includeDine Bahane: The Navaho Creation Story,The Winged Serpent: American Indian Prose and Poetry,Weaving a World: Textiles and the Navajo Way of SeeingandReading the Voice: Native American Oral Poetry on the Page.

Zolbrods visit is sponsored jointly by the Presidents Office for Social Justice, the School of Social Work, the Native American Studies Program, the College of Human Resources and Education, and the Office of Academic Affairs.