Join us for a special celebration of our inaugural André Harvey Creative Fellow Joy Harjo, acclaimed Poet Laureate and citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, as she shares her award-winning body of work.
Through her powerful poetry, Harjo weaves together stories of heritage, resilience, and connection to the land, inviting us to reflect on the rich histories and living traditions of Indigenous peoples. Harjo’s work blends vivid imagery, personal history, and traditions to illuminate themes of identity, resilience, and a deep connection to the natural world. This celebration invites guests to listen, reflect, and engage with the rich histories and living cultures of Indigenous peoples, while experiencing the transformative power of art and storytelling.
Harjo is Longwood’s inaugural André Harvey Creative Fellow. Established to continue the artistic legacy of Brandywine Valley artist André Harvey (1941–2018), the André Harvey Creative Fellowship offers a biennial residency at Longwood to creative professionals so that they may engage deeply with nature, fostering new creative works that enrich and inspire audiences. The Fellowship, generously funded by a gift from Bobbie Harvey, underscores Longwood’s commitment to accessibility, beauty, and learning. As the first André Harvey Fellow, Harjo will be in residence at Longwood from October 14-27, immersing herself in the Brandywine Valley’s iconic landscapes while exploring the connections between art, nature, and creativity.
This event will be followed by a book signing and opportunity to meet the author with light refreshments. A selection of Harjo’s books as well, as a biography of André Harvey, are available for purchase before this event at The Garden Shop and can also be purchased in The Garden Shop on the day of the event.
Location
The Fountain Room
Instructor
A trailblazer in poetry and storytelling, Joy Harjo is the first Native American to serve as US Poet Laureate. She has published 10 books of poetry, including her most recent, Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years (2022). Harjo’s awards and recognitions are numerous, including the 2024 Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America, Yale’s 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, a Class of 2022 National Humanities Medal, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Americans for the Arts, a Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, a PEN USA Literary Award, the Poets & Writers Jackson Poetry Prize, two NEA fellowships, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, among others.
In addition to her writing, Harjo is a talented musician, performing throughout the US and internationally and has produced seven award-winning albums including her newest, I Pray for My Enemies. She has edited three anthologies of Native literature, including When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through — A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, Reinventing the Enemy's Language, and Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry, the companion anthology to her signature Poet Laureate project. She served as a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation. She lives on the Muscogee Nation Reservation in Oklahoma.
