Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo is a prizewinning poet, multi-instrumentalist, and activist from Oklahoma. A member of the Muskogee tribe (Creek), she is the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, and the first Native American to hold the post. She's released a steady stream of music albums beginning with 1985's Furious Light, blending jazz, spoken word, and folk peppered with Creek values, myths, and beliefs. In 2003 she released the dub poetry album Letter from the End of the 20th Century with her Poetic Justice band, and in 2004 issued Native Joy for Real. She Had She Some Horses followed in 2006. 2008's Winding Through the Milky Way melded indigenous music, modern jazz, reggae, and improvisation. Following 2019's Poet Laureate appointment, she released 2021's I Pray for My Enemies. Harjo signed with Smithsonian Folkways for 2026's Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace, arranged and co-produced by Esperanza Spalding.