Poet Laureate of the United States Joy Harjo is the first Native American to serve as poet laureate.
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Library of Congress has recently announced that Joy Harjo is the new United States Poet Laureate. As a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, she is the first Native American to receive the honor since it was established in 1937. Harjo becomes the 23rd person to hold this annual appointment from the Library of Congress and the first from Oklahoma. Commonly held for two consecutive terms, the position was officially named the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress by a 1985 act of Congress. During his or her term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the na...
