Indianz.Com > News > Gaylord News: Poet laureate Joy Harjo begins historic third term
First Native American poet laureate begins third term, releases a memoir
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Cronkite News
Joy Harjo of Oklahoma, the first Native American woman to serve as the nation’s poet laureate, has begun her third term – an honor previously bestowed only once. Robert Pinsky was the first U.S. poet laureate to serve a third term, in 1999.
“Throughout the pandemic, Joy Harjo has shown how poetry can help steady us and nurture us,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. “I am thankful she is willing to continue this work on behalf of the country. A third term will give Joy the opportunity to develop and extend her signature project.”
That project is “Living Nations, Living Words,” a sampling of work by 47 Native Nations poets through an interactive ArcGIS Story Map, which visualizes locations and histories of Native poets in the U.S., and a newly developed Library of Congress audio collection.
“Joy is our first Native laureate, but I don’t think the historic nature of her laureateship played a big part in the decision,” Rob Casper, head of Poetry and Literature at the Library of Congress, said of Harjo’s third term. “It was really more about unfinished work.”
Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
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