Joy Harjo 05/08/2019

Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States and the first Native American selected for the post, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 9, 1951. Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, has won many awards and honors for her poetry, including the American Book Award, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and the Jackson Poetry Prize, to name a few. While many people associate Harjo with poetry, she is also a talented musician. She was never one to limit herself creatively, and she learned to play the saxophone in her late 30s and has performed with bands Poetic Justice and Arrow Dynamics, among others. Besides discussing her poetry and her musical endeavors, Harjo also talks about her creative process and offers advice to writers. The writing life is not without its difficulties but Harjo kept going, finding her way and honoring her life’s purpose.