Joy Harjo

Literary Birthday – 9 May – Joy Harjo

Happy Birthday, Joy Harjo, born 9 May 1951.

Seven Quotes

  1. There is no poetry where there are no mistakes.
  2. It’s possible to understand the world from studying a leaf. You can comprehend the laws of aerodynamics, mathematics, poetry and biology through the complex beauty of such a perfect structure. It’s also possible to travel the whole globe and learn nothing.
  3. I’ve always had a theory that some of us are born with nerve endings longer than our bodies.
  4. A story matrix connects all of us. There are rules, processes, and circles of responsibility in this world. And the story begins exactly where it is supposed to begin. We cannot skip any part.
  5. I was born with eyes that can never close…
  6. After my father left us, I learned that some voices can deceive you. There is a top layer and there is a bottom, and they don’t match.
  7. All acts of kindness are lights in the war for justice.

Joy Harjo is a an American poet, musician, and author. Her books include She Had Some Horses, Crazy Brave: A Memoir, and In Mad Love and War. She received the PEN Open Book Award in 2002. Born Joy Foster, she took her paternal grandmother’s surname when she enrolled in the Muscogee Nation.

Image

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joy_Harjo_smiling,_2019.jpg

Library of Congress Life, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

by Amanda Patterson

Please click here for our Literary Birthday Calendar

Posted on: 9th May 2015
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