Note: The location for the event at 11:00 am on Wednesday, Feb. 19 has changed to the Volleyball Gym on MGA's Macon Campus.
Joy Harjo, the 2019-2020 U.S. poet laureate, is coming to Middle Georgia State University.
Harjo, the first Native American to be named U.S. poet laureate, will read from and discuss her poetry at 11 to 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in the Volleyball Gym* on the Macon Campus. She will sign books afterward. Seating is limited.
That same day, at 5:30 p.m., she will give another reading and sign books at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Macon.
The public is invited to her Middle Georgia State (MGA) and Ocmulgee Mounds visits. Admission is free.
The Oklahoma-born writer is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, which lived across the Southeastern U.S., including what is now Macon, until its forced removal to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi in the late 1820s, according to the national park’s website. The Creek Nation continues to play a vital role in the protection of Ocmulgee.
“Joy Harjo’s appearance is a significant event for Middle Georgia State and the region,” said Dr. Mary Wearn, dean of MGA’s School of Arts & Letters, which is co-sponsoring the event along with the Ocmulgee Mounds Association. “We are honored to host America’s current poet laureate, especially given that she is someone with such close ties to the region.”
Harjo is the 23rd United States poet laureate. The Library of Congress appoints a poet laureate each year to promote appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry. Her MGA reading is supported by the University’s Office of Experiential Learning, Honors Program, and the Master Lectures and Conversations Series.
