Joy Harjo
Encyclopedia
Joy Harjo is a Native American
poet, musician, and author of ancestry. Known primarily as a poet, Harjo has also taught at the college level, played alto saxophone
with a band called Poetic Justice, edited literary journals, and written screenplays. She is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
and is of Cherokee
descent. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop
at the University of Iowa
.
In 1995, Harjo received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas
.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
poet, musician, and author of ancestry. Known primarily as a poet, Harjo has also taught at the college level, played alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
with a band called Poetic Justice, edited literary journals, and written screenplays. She is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
The Muscogee Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Muscogee people, also known as the Creek, based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. They are regarded as one of the historical Five Civilized Tribes and call themselves Este Mvskokvlke...
and is of Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
descent. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
.
In 1995, Harjo received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas
Native Writers' Circle of the Americas
The Native Writers' Circle of the Americas is an organization of Native American writers, most notable for its literary awards, presented annually to Native American writers in three categories: First Book of Poetry, First Book of Prose, and Lifetime Achievement...
.
Poetry
- How We Became Human New and Selected Poems: 1975 - 2001 (2002)
- A Map to the Next World (2000)
- The Woman Who Fell From the Sky (1994) received the OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
BookBookA book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
AwardAwardAn award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons... - Fishing (1992)
- In Mad Love and War (1990) received an American Book AwardAmerican Book AwardThe American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
and the Delmore SchwartzDelmore SchwartzDelmore Schwartz was an American poet and short story writer from Brooklyn, New York.-Biography:Schwartz was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, Harry and Rose, both Romanian Jews, separated when Schwartz was nine, and their divorce had a profound effect on him. Later, in 1930,...
MemorialMemorialA memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
AwardAwardAn award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons... - Secrets from the Center of the World (1989)
- The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window (1983)
- New Orleans (1983)
- She Had Some Horses (1983)
- What Moon Drove Me to This? (1979)
- The Last Song (1975)
- Remember
Joy Harjo
- "Red Dreams: A Trail Beyond Tears" (2010)
- "Winding Through the Milky Way" (2008)
- "She Had Some Horses" (2006)
- "Native Joy for Real" (2004)
Poetry
- She Had Some Horses
- When the World As We Knew It Ended
- I Give You Back
See also
- List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
- Native American RenaissanceNative American RenaissanceThe Native American Renaissance was a term originally coined by critic Kenneth Lincoln in his 1983 book of the same title. Lincoln’s goal was to explore the explosion in production of literary works by Native Americans in the decade and a half after N. Scott Momaday had won the Pulitzer Prize in...
- Native American StudiesNative American StudiesNative American Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America, or, taking a hemispheric approach, the Americas...