Native American/First Nations Woman Writer of the Week: JOY HARJO
Joy Harjo is the first Native American Poet Laureate for the United States, receiving the honor in June 2019, and is known as a major figure in contemporary American poetry. A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation from Oklahoma, Harjo draws on First Nation storytelling and histories alongside feminist and social justice poetic traditions in her writing. Her critically acclaimed work is often autobiographical and focused on the need for remembrance and transcendence, earning her the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas among many other awards. She published her first volume, a nine-poem chapbook entitled The Last Song, in 1975, demonstrating a powerful insight into the fragmented history of indigenous peoples that later evolved into What Moon Drove Me to This?, a full-length volume of poetry combining everyday experiences with deep spiritual truths. She earned a BA from the University of New Mexico and MFA from the Iowa Writersâ Workshop. Before being named Poet Laureate, Harjo was a Professor and Chair of Excellence in Creative Writing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
UWM Special Collections holds 15 titles by Harjo in our Native American Literature Collection. Shown here from top to bottom are:
Presbyterian minister Cari Pattison discusses the ways that her English education and love for stories have influenced her spiritual and intellectual life.
Presbyterian minister Cari Pattison discusses the ways that her English education and love for stories have influenced her spiritual and intellectual life.
We've moved to the spiffy new nortonliterature.com and encourage you to follow us there. Fair Matter will remain but will no longer be updated.
Need some incentive? One of our first 100 followers on that new blog, selected at random, will receive a free W. W. Norton tote bag and critical edition. Go go go!
Just like Harry Potter 7, the BBCâs Pride and Prejudice, and your favorite Browning poem, all good things must come to an end. As we leave FairMatter to edify the internet archives, we welcome you to join us at Norton Literature: where literature lovers gather.
If a bookshelf and a comfy chair met in a bar, hit it off, and had a baby, the result would be this chair, from furniture company Nobody & Co. Itâs called the Bibliochaise, and for lazy readers (arenât we all?), itâs the library of the future. The Bibliochaise â which really looks more like a throne â holds five meters of books, which works out to about 300 of your favorite classics. (via The Bibliochaise Bookshelf Chair Is a Miniature Library for Your Apartment | Swimmingly)
A conversation with Grisha Freidin, Stanford professor of Slavic literature, on Leo Tolstoy and Anna Karenina. Via The Noise of Time and Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature) with Robert Harrison.
Need a crash course in a classic? Look no further than the page before the first pageâthe subject headings, care of the Library of Congress, on the copyright page give it all away and can prove to be an excellent study guide. (Also can provide a good laugh on just the right sort of day. See: Jane Eyre.)
1.Boys. Shoe shiners. Poor children. New York (N.Y.). Street children.
2. Gentry. Ventriloquists. Pennsylvania.
3. Physiciansâ spouses. Adultery. Middle class.
4. RussiaâHistory. RussiaâOfficials and employees.
5. Sea stories, American. New York (N.Y.). Slave trade. Copyists. Sailors.
6. Swindlers and swindling. Swindlers and swindling in literature. Mississippi River. Steamboats.
14. CanadaâSocial life and customs. City and town life. CanadaâIn literature.
15. IrishâIndia. Orphans. Lamas. Boys.
16. Communal living. Collective farms. Farm life.
17. Wessex. People with visual disabilities. Mothers and sons. Mate selection. Heathlands. Adultery.
18. Lithuanian Americans. Chicago (Ill.) Working class. Stockyards. Immigrants.
19. Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc. Fathers and daughters. Castaways. Magicians. Islands
20. Fathers and daughter. Exiles.
21. Villages. France.
22. Infants switched at birth. Impostors and imposture. Passing (Identity). Trials (Murder). Conjoined twins. Race relations.
23. Physicians. London. Multiple personality.
24. DentistsâCalifornia.
(Answers after the jump!)
1. Ragged Dick; 2. Wieland and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist; 3. Madame Bovary; 4. Notes from Underground; 5. Melvilleâs Short Novels; 6. The Confidence-Man; 7. Sister Carrie; 8. A Clockwork Orange; 9. Secret Garden; 10. Wuthering Heights; 11. Jane Eyre; 12. The Picture of Dorian Gray; 13. Doctor Faustus; 14. Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town; 15. Kim; 16. The Blithedale Romance; 17. The Return of the Native; 18. The Jungle; 19. The Tempest; 20. As You Like It; 21. Swannâs Way; 22. Puddânhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins; 23. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; 24. McTeague
The winner of our March Madness bracket has been decided! Not Connecticut huskies, but a man-bug thing. Close enough.
Thanks to all who submitted brackets (winning one to be announced later today) and voted to help us decide which title would be crowned champion. We hope you enjoyed following the action and that you've been inspired to pick up (or read again) one of these classics.
Our Book Bracket finalists prepare for battle in not dissimilar ways: one walks around Dublin hating himself, the other crawls around his house being hated. And both are ultimately transformed.
Throw your weight behind Joyce or Kafka here! The winning titleâand winning submitted bracketâwill be announced on Monday afternoon.
Perhaps it was too mired in ethical dilemmasâThe Brothers Karamazov couldn't squeak out the win it needed for advancement into the Book Bracket semifinals. Our first contender for the gold and glory has been chosen, and he's going to write a villanelle to celebrate!
Congrats to Stephen Dedalus, who will be up against either Gregor Samsa the human beetle or Lily Bart the cautionary tale. Help decide which author battles Joyce in the semifinal of the 2014 Book Bracket by voting here.
With your help, the final match-up will be decided over the weekend and announced on Mondayâkeep an eye out for a voting link!
Dostoevsky, Joyce, Kafka, and Wharton have all cemented spots in the quarterfinals. But which lucky books will go on to the semis? Your chance to choose! Submit your votes here.
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