Native Voice Joy Harjo Draws On Tribal Myth & History In Celebrating Nature

Since her first book of poetry in 1975, She Had Some Horses, Joy Harjo has been a vital voice, winning awards too numerous to mention. A member of the Muscogee-Creek Nation, Harjo draws on tribal myth and history to celebrate the natural world and humanity’s role within it in such works as A Map to the Next World and The Woman Who Fell from the Sky. More recently, she has published a memoir, Crazy Brave, and written a musical play, We Were There When Jazz Was Invented. She is also a painter and a noted saxophone player.
Poetry & Planet is produced by Ethan Goffman. The excerpt from Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is read by R. Michael Oliver. Musical excerpts from “Elements of Life” and “Earth Revisited” are written and performed by Reginald Cyntje, with vocals by Christie Dashiell. Aural interludes are by Douglas Harvey. The opening poetry chorus is voiced by Jomo K. Johnson, Dr. Michael Anthony Ingram, Marianne Szlyk, and R. Michael Oliver. The poem “Legacy,” by Maurice Kenny, is courtesy of White Pine Press.
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