Torria Catrone, Editor-in-Chief —
As part of the ongoing Laura C. Harris and Beck lecture Series, Denison University welcomed Joy Harjo to campus for a third time. The three-term U.S. Poet Laureate visited campus twice before, once in 1991 and again in 2009. She returned this past week as part of programming entitled “An Evening with Joy Harjo: Women’s Empowerment, Indigenous Poetry, and Native Literature.”
Harjo was the first native American to be appointed U.S. Poet Laureate in 2019, and served three terms in this position. During her tenure, Harjo collaborated with other Native poets to create the “Living Nations, Living Words” project. Featured on the Library of Congress’ website, it is an interactive map where viewers can listen to and read along with 47 different Native American poets.
To begin the evening in Sharon Martin Hall, Harjo filled the space with the sounds of a wooden flute. In a sort of meditative practice, she improvised for a few minutes with her eyes closed. She then transitioned into an hour of readings from her own works and others. She spoke at length about her many published books, and shared with the audience about upcoming projects.
Harjo’s most recently published book, Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light, is an experimental poetic memoir. This joins the ranks of her nearly 20 published works. After reading a couple of pieces from the book, Harjo shared: “I didn’t start out to reinvent memoir. I just wrote it how I thought it should be.”
For the final hour of the program, she participated in a Q&A with Denison faculty members David Baker and Linda Krumholz. They traded personal questions as well as questions from Professor Baker’s students. Harjo shared more insight on her creative process, upcoming projects, and reflected on her own poetry.