Joy Harjo believes in second chances

A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin: Joy Harjo is one of the most revered poets in the United States, but there are all kinds of reasons why that didn’t have to happen. She studied pre-med in college. But, as if to hedge her bets on that particular career choice, she began taking creative writing classes. And in the end, the arts won out – stability be damned.

Joy grew up in Oklahoma as part of the Muscogee Creek Nation. But her step father forced Joy to suppress her creativity. She wasn’t even allowed to sing in the house. That creative spirit could have died inside her, but when she was finally out on her own she realized that making music, telling stories and writing poetry wasn’t just something she wanted to do — it was something she had to do.

Since then she has used her writing to capture the diverse experiences of Native people in this country. In 2019, she was named the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States. And this spring she is releasing a new version of her book, For A Girl Becoming.