Joy Harjo Interview: The Power of Poetry

Episode Summary

Joy Harjo, the first Native American chosen to be our nation’s Poet Laureate and the 2024 recipient of the Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime achievement in poetry, is a dream weaver. In this mesmerizing conversation, she describes growing up in Oklahoma and learning the stories from elders of the Muscogee traditions and tragedies. In a gently lyrical voice as vivid and compelling as her poetry, Joy Harjo unspools the thread of her life and the universal truths she has learned from it. And in the tradition of all the great storytellers, she paints pictures for the mind's eye to behold: “what are we without winds becoming words?”