KVNO: Joy Harjo to share writings at University of Nebraska

Monday, November 14, 2011  

"A nationally-renowned poet, performer, playwright and author will be speaking at the University of Nebraska Omaha this week. Born in Oklahoma, Joy Harjo is considered a major figure in contemporary American poetry.

Harjo’s first poems were published in 1975, when she was just 24, in a volume titled The Last Song. She is perhaps best known for her work, In Mad Love and War, which was published in 1990 and deals with the politics of Native American history. Harjo is a native of the Muskogee Creek tribe, and her heritage features prominently in her work. In a recent interview with KVNO News, Harjo said although she’d agree with one way she’s been described – a political, feminist Native American – that’s just a part of who she is.

“I think just like any other human being on earth, the culture we write or we create from, what we come through, what we emerge from as human beings when we take on this life,” Harjo said. “And often, I don’t think most people in the world, when they’re writing, or most writers in the world, think okay, am I writing as a Jewish person today? You just do it. You just write.”"

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Nationally renowned poet to read at UNO (KVNO News 11/14)