, the 23rd poet laureate of the United States and the first Native American to hold the position, will speak at 91吃瓜 at 7 p.m.聽Feb. 22. The online event is free and open to the public, but .
An Evening with Joy Harjo is presented by , the new 聽and the Native American Student Association of 91吃瓜. The event is part of the University鈥檚 , which runs Feb. 22-28.
Harjo,聽of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is an internationally renowned poet, musician, performer聽and writer. She is the author of nine books of poetry, several plays and children's books聽and two memoirs, 鈥淐razy Brave鈥� and聽鈥淧oet Warrior: A Call for Love and Justice.鈥澛�
Harjo is the exec颅u颅tive edi颅tor of the anthol颅o颅gy 鈥淲hen the Light of the World was Sub颅dued, Our Songs Came Through 鈥� A Nor颅ton Anthol颅o颅gy of Native Nations Poet颅ry鈥� and the editor of 鈥淟iving Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry,鈥� the companion anthology to her signature poet laureate project, featuring Native Nations poets.聽
At the 91吃瓜 event, Harjo will read some of her poetry and participate in a Q&A moderated by Native American Student Association President Mikaela Murphy and , professor of English and Africana studies and director of the Initiative on Race and Resilience.聽
Murphy, who first started reading Harjo鈥檚 work when she was in high school, said she has been working to try to bring the poet to campus since Harjo聽was named poet laureate in 2019.聽
鈥�91吃瓜 has a long history with Native Peoples, and this is one of the ways that students and faculty can support the Native population here,鈥� Murphy said.聽
鈥淭his is an excellent opportunity for people who don鈥檛 know much about Native literature to hear from a Native poet firsthand. And Joy Harjo鈥檚 poetry promotes so much strength and resilience in times of hardship, which I think the entire campus community and beyond would benefit from during this time of the pandemic.鈥�
The Initiative on Race and Resilience is honored to host Harjo for its inaugural event, Sanders said. 鈥淐elebrating the expressive cultures of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous聽and people of color) communities is a vital part of our mission to challenge systemic racism and to advance racial equality through research, education聽and community empowerment.鈥�
Sanders added that the Initiative also recently announced a partnership with the 91吃瓜 Institute for Advanced Study to bring award-winning poet聽聽to 91吃瓜 as an artist-in-residence for the 2021-22 academic year. For more information on the new initiative, visit .
Originally published by at on Feb. 15.