Steeped in her literary works and poetry, Joy Harjo will be joined for an online presentation by writer and interdisciplinary artist, Heid Erdrich. The one-night-only experience will begin with a virtual tour of the exhibition Jim Denomie, Sweet Dreams featuring music by Red Wing Black Bird, a Native women’s drum circle.
As the U.S. Poet Laureate, Harjo connects poetry, geography and place, writing, “Maybe we are at the place where many roads come together under the dimming sun. We must ... view more »
Steeped in her literary works and poetry, Joy Harjo will be joined for an online presentation by writer and interdisciplinary artist, Heid Erdrich. The one-night-only experience will begin with a virtual tour of the exhibition Jim Denomie, Sweet Dreams featuring music by Red Wing Black Bird, a Native women’s drum circle.
As the U.S. Poet Laureate, Harjo connects poetry, geography and place, writing, “Maybe we are at the place where many roads come together under the dimming sun. We must make a new map, together where poetry is sung.” Harjo’s call to action is a call for cultural healing.
Sponsored by Valley Bookseller
In 2019, Joy Harjo was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold the position and only the second person to serve three terms in the role. Harjo’s nine books of poetry include An American Sunrise, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, and She Had Some Horses. She is also the author of two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, which invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her “poet-warrior” road. She has edited several anthologies of Native American writing including When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through — A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, and Living Nations, Living Words, the companion anthology to her signature poet laureate project. Her many writing awards include the 2019 Jackson Prize from the Poetry Society of America, the Ruth Lilly Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the 2015 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and holds a Tulsa Artist Fellowship. A renowned musician, Harjo performs with her saxophone nationally and internationally; her most recent album is I Pray For My Enemies. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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This event is offered as part of ArtReach St. Croix’s NEA Big Read in the St. Croix Valley. We encourage you to join your St. Croix Valley neighbors in reading An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo. In April 2022, we will celebrate the arts with activities related to themes found in the book. More information is available at artreachstcriox.org/bigread. See www.arts.gov/national-initiatives/nea-big-read/american-sunrise for reader resources and discussion questions.
NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. NEA Big Read in the St. Croix Valley is presented by ArtReach St. Croix in conjunction with core program partners including Valley Bookseller, Stillwater Public library and other library branches located between St. Croix Falls, WI, and Hastings, MN.
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