"I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible."
Poet Joy Harjo has been named America's 23rd Poet Laureate — making her the first Native American person to hold the prestigious position! "Joy Harjo has championed the art of poetry — 'soul talk' as she calls it — for over four decades," Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a press release announcing Harjo's selection. "To her, poems are 'carriers of dreams, knowledge and wisdom,' and through them she tells an American story of tradition and loss, reckoning and myth-making." The 68-year-old, who is also the first poet laureate from Oklahoma, called it a "tremendous honor," saying, "I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible, and how time and timelessness can live together within a poem." Continue reading → Continue reading