Catching the Light (Why I Write)
Book by Joy Harjo
DETAILS
Publisher : Yale University Press; Reprint edition (October 4, 2022) Language : English Hardcover : 128 pages ISBN-10 : 0300257031 ISBN-13 : 978-0300257038 Item Weight : 7.7 ounces Dimensions : 5.08 x 0.65 x 7.2 inches Best Sellers Rank: #41,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Poetry Literary Criticism (Books) #64 in Literary Criticism & Theory #113 in Author Biographies , U.S. Poet Laureate and winner of the 2022 Academy of American Poets Leadership Award Joy Harjo examines the power of words and how poetry summons us toward justice and healing “Her enduring message—that writing can be redemptive—resonates: ‘To write is to make a mark in the world, to assert “I am.”’ The result is a rousing testament to the power of storytelling.”— Publishers Weekly “Harjo writes as if the creative journey has been the destination all along.”— Kirkus Reviews In this lyrical meditation about the why of writing poetry, Joy Harjo reflects on significant points of illumination, experience, and questioning from her fifty years as a poet. Composed of intimate vignettes that take us through the author’s life journey as a youth in the late 1960s, a single mother, and a champion of Native nations, this book offers a fresh understanding of how poetry functions as an expression of purpose, spirit, community, and memory—in both the private, individual journey and as a vehicle for prophetic, public witness. Harjo insists that the most meaningful poetry is birthed through cracks in history from what is broken and unseen. At the crossroads of this brokenness, she calls us to watch and listen for the songs of justice for all those America has denied. This is an homage to the power of words to defy erasure—to inscribe the story, again and again, of who we have been, who we are, and who we can be. Read more
REVIEW
A collection of micro-essays that range from memoir and biography to ruminations on writing and indigeneity. Joy Harjo writes with an economy of words that echoes her poetic background. I found the pieces on language and colonization more interesting than the purely biographical ones, but a reader who is familiar with and loves Harjo will enjoy insights into her background and process and how she came to be the powerhouse writer she is today.
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