The Library of Congress will celebrate Joy Harjo, the first Native American U.S. poet laureate, as her three terms in the position come to a conclusion with two public programs at the end of April.
“For a remarkable three terms as U.S. poet laureate, Joy Harjo has tirelessly promoted Native poets and poetry,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.
“To her, poems are ‘carriers of dreams, knowledge, and wisdom,’ and she has been an insightful voice during the difficulties of a pandemic. We are eager to welcome her back to the Library to celebrate her tenure as poet laureate and to host the In-Na-Po retreat on her behalf.”
The Poet Laureate Closing Event will take place in the Coolidge Auditorium on Thursday, April 28, and features Harjo (an enrolled member of the Mvskoke Nation) reading and discussing her favorite “ancestor poems.”
The evening will begin with a performance by singer-songwriter Jennifer Kreisberg (Tuscarora, North Carolina) and will include a reading by poet Portlyn Houghton-Harjo (Mvskoke, Seminole). Harjo will end with a performance of her poem “Remember.”
On Friday, the Library will host a dance party for Harjo in the Montpelier Room featuring DJ Tnyce (Haliwa-Saponi) — and showcasing songs selected by Harjo as well as recordings of her own work. Tickets are free and available here.
Concurrently, the Library will host the historic first retreat of In-Na-Po — Indigenous Nations Poets, a new organization mentoring emerging Native writers founded by former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser (Anishinaabe, White Earth Nation). Harjo is an advisory board member of the organization. Throughout the week, a cohort of 30 fellows, faculty, and guests will participate in workshops and panel discussions in the Library’s Jefferson Building. They will also visit the Library’s American Folklife Center, which developed a new digital collection of recordings for Harjo’s “Living Nations, Living Words” signature project, and see items from its collections as well as from collections around the Library. Retreat faculty and guests include Luci Tapahanso (Diné), the first Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation, and her successor, Laura Tohe (Diné); recent National Poetry Series winners Heid Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) and Jake Skeets (Diné); and other award-winning writers such as Deborah Miranda (Esselen and Chumash) and Elise Paschen (Osage).
“This has been an incredible moment to serve poetry and to celebrate the historic, ongoing contributions of the original peoples of these lands,” Harjo said.
“I’m thrilled to conclude my laureateship with In-Na-Po’s inaugural retreat, which marks a fresh beginning for emerging generations of Native poets.”
The American Folklife Center is co-sponsoring the In-Na-Po retreat as part of the Library’s Of the People: Widening the Path initiative, supported by an institutional grant from the Mellon Foundation. Of the People is a multi-year effort to connect the Library more deeply with Black, Indigenous, and communities of color historically underrepresented in the United States and in the Library’s collections.
Harjo’s rare third term in 2021 and 2022 provided her an opportunity to complete projects and programs whose timelines were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Harjo’s signature project, “Living Nations, Living Words,” is available at loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poet-laureate-projects/living-nations-living-words/.
Source: Library of Congress
