Poet Warrior: A Memoir

Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as US poet laureate, invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her "poet-warrior" road in her new book, Poet Warrior. She celebrates the influences that shaped her poetry, among them Audre Lorde, N. Scott Momaday, Walt Whitman, Muscogee stomp dance call-and-response, Navajo horse songs, rain, and sunrise, and recounts a luminous journey of becoming.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 09 September 2022
Publisher: WW Norton & Co

Joy Harjo, the first Native American to hold the position of US poet laureate, invites us to embark on a journey alongside her "poet-warrior" path, filled with heartaches, losses, and profound realizations. Her latest work, Poet Warrior, serves as a captivating and insightful sequel to Crazy Brave (ISBN 978 0 393 34543 8). Through this musical, kaleidoscopic, and wise exploration, Harjo reveals the transformative journey that led her to compose poetry of compassion and healing, possessing the ability to unveil the truth and advocate for justice.

Harjo delves into the stories of her ancestors and family, the poetry and music that shaped her early years, and the messengers of a changing earth—owls signaling grief, resilient desert plants, and a surprised green snake curled up. She celebrates the diverse influences that shaped her poetic voice, including Audre Lorde, N. Scott Momaday, Walt Whitman, Muscogee stomp dance call-and-response, Navajo horse songs, rain, and sunrise. In her absorbing and incantatory prose, Harjo mourns the loss of her mother, grapples with the theft of her ancestral homeland, and sheds light on the rituals that sustain her as an artist, mother, wife, and community member.

Moving fluidly between prose, song, and poetry, Harjo recounts a luminous journey of self-discovery, offering a spiritual map that will guide us all toward finding our true home. Poet Warrior resonates with the jazz, blues, tenderness, and bravery that are unmistakably Joy Harjo's signature.

Weight: 208g
Dimension: 139 x 210 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781324022015