TULSA, Okla. – The Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa in partnership with the Route 66 Alliance and the OSU Library will induct Joy Harjo into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in the OSU-Tulsa Auditorium. Special guests at the event include authors and Writers Hall of Fame members Rilla Askew and Michael Wallis.
“Joy Harjo is my very favorite poet and an accomplished musician and storyteller,” said Teresa Miller, executive director of the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers. “She developed her many talents growing up in Oklahoma and has influenced a generation of writers through her work. But Joy's work resonates beyond far beyond the boundaries of our states. She is one of the most powerful voices in contemporary literature.”
Harjo is a native Tulsan and member of the Mvskoke Nation. She is an award-winning author, poet and musician. She has written seven books of poetry, which include well-known titles such as How we Became Human-New and Selected Poems, The Woman Who Fell From the Sky and She Had Some Horses. She also recently published her memoir, Crazy Brave, which received the 2013 Lost Angeles Times book prize for creative nonfiction.
She has received the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. Most recently she was named a Guggenheim Fellow.
The Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame was established to honor Oklahoma writers who have made major contributions to American literature while living and writing in Oklahoma. Writers are nominated by the public and selected by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers board. The Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame is maintained by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers, OSU-Stillwater Library and Route 66 Alliance.
Tickets are $15, plus handling charges, and may be purchased at myticketoffice.com or by calling 918-596-7111. For more information, contact Miller at