Women in Literature and Music

Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo was born May 9, 1951, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She's a member of the Creek tribe, her father was also Creek and her mother was French-Cherokee. Joy is a graduate of the University of New Mexico (1976) & University of Iowa (1978), she would later teach at several American universities including the University of New Mexico (1991-97) & University of Illinois (2013-16), where she served as professor of American Indian studies & English. In 2016, she joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee. 

Joy's first book of poetry, The Last Song (1975), contained her observations and insights, into the complex history of Indigenous people. In her third collection, She had some Horses (1983), she wove prayer-chants and animal imagery into her verse. The Woman who fell from the Sky (1994), portrays the conflicting forces of creation and destruction, in modern society. In Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (2015), Joy chronicles the joys and struggles in the everyday lives of Native Americans. Other works of Joy's includes, What Moon Drove me to this? (1979), Secrets from the Center of the World (1989), In Mad Love & War (1990) & Fishing (1992). 

Joy won the 1991 American Book Award for, In Mad Love & War & the Wallace Stevens' award (2015) & Ruth Lilly Poetry prize (2017), for her other works. In 2019, Joy was named the 23rd poet laureate of the US, she was the first Native American to hold the post & was appointed for a 2nd term in 2020. She also published her memoir, Crazy Brave, in 2012, which won the American Book Award, in 2013 & PEN Center prize for creative nonfiction.

In addition to writing, Joy played saxophone and sang with her own band, Poetic Justice and Arrow Dynamics, a group with whom she toured. In 2009, she was the recipient of the Native American Award for female artist of the year. She released several albums including most notably, Red Dreams, A Trail Beyond Tears (2010). She debuted her solo act, Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light, in 2009.