Joy Harjo: "Tribal Aesthetics and Contemporary American Indian Literature"

Marta Sutton Weeks Distinguished Visitor

Joy Harjo is a Native American poet, dramatic screenwriter, and professor of creative writing a the University of New Mexico. Harjo is an enrolled member of the Muscogee Tribe and gave a poetry reading and a seminar. Her visit culminated in a performance by her band, Poetic Justice. Harjo sang and played the saxophone in the band, which also included a Lakota drum and the mix of electric strings with a tribal jazz reggae rhythm. The unique sound of the band is rooted in Harjo's spoken verse. The poems set to music are filled with images of American Indian life and myth.