Joy Harjo, a Native American poet and musician, will give a reading at the University of Rochester at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15, in the Interfaith Chapel on the River Campus. This event is part of the 39th season of the Hyam Plutzik Memorial Poetry Series in conjunction with The Donald R. Clark Enrichment Program in the Humanities.
Harjo has published six books of poetry, including her most recent, A Map to the Next World. Her writings have earned several awards, including the 2000 Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas, and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She is a member of the National Council on the Arts.
Harjo was the narrator for the Native Americans series on Turner Network and more recently the narrator for the Emmy Award-winning show Navajo Codetalkers for National Geographic. A saxophonist, she performs solo and with her band, Joy Harjo and Poetic Justice. The group has shared the stage with numerous performers, including the Indigo Girls and Bonnie Raitt, and its new CD, Crossing the Border , is forthcoming.
An enrolled member of the Muscogee Nation, Harjo received her bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico and later earned her master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa. She also has completed the filmmaking program at the Anthropology Film Center in Santa Fe and a songwriting workshop at Berkelee School of Music in Boston.
As part of her visit to Rochester, Harjo will participate in a student roundtable discussion. For more information, contact the Department of English at (585) 275-4092.