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Joy Harjo

Catching the Light (Why I Write) Hardcover – October 4, 2022

by Joy Harjo (Author)

4.7 43 ratings

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U.S. Poet Laureate and winner of the 2022 Academy of American Poets Leadership Award Joy Harjo examines the power of words and how poetry summons us toward justice and healing

“Her enduring message—that writing can be redemptive—resonates: ‘To write is to make a mark in the world, to assert “I am.”’ The result is a rousing testament to the power of storytelling.”—Publishers Weekly

“Harjo writes as if the creative journey has been the destination all along.”—Kirkus Reviews

In this lyrical meditation about the why of writing poetry, Joy Harjo reflects on significant points of illumination, experience, and questioning from her fifty years as a poet. Composed of intimate vignettes that take us through the author’s life journey as a youth in the late 1960s, a single mother, and a champion of Native nations, this book offers a fresh understanding of how poetry functions as an expression of purpose, spirit, community, and memory—in both the private, individual journey and as a vehicle for prophetic, public witness.

Harjo insists that the most meaningful poetry is birthed through cracks in history from what is broken and unseen. At the crossroads of this brokenness, she calls us to watch and listen for the songs of justice for all those America has denied. This is an homage to the power of words to defy erasure—to inscribe the story, again and again, of who we have been, who we are, and who we can be.

Print length

128 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

October 4, 2022
Dimensions

5.08 x 0.65 x 7.2 inches
ISBN-10

0300257031
ISBN-13

978-0300257038
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From the Publisher

Catching the Light: A lyrical meditation on writing poetry by Joy Harjo, the first Native American

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Her musings on the ‘story we call “America”’ hit home, and her enduring message—that writing can be redemptive—resonates: ‘To write is to make a mark in the world, to assert “I am.”’ The result is a rousing testament to the power of storytelling.”—Publishers Weekly

“Readers will be fascinated to learn how poetry, performance, song, Native culture, and an unparalleled work ethic came together to inform [Harjo’s] artistic journey. . . . Always illuminating, Harjo writes as if the creative journey has been the destination all along.”—Kirkus Reviews

Selected by Time as one of the best new books of October 2022

“For Harjo, poetry is both a calling and a necessity for survival. . . . Most of these fifty vignettes get right to the heart of the matter—as is Harjo’s way. We need writing to make sense of the world.”—Yvonne C. Garrett, Brooklyn Rail

“Catching the Light is rich with Harjo’s observations about language and place and imagination and the work they do in the world—observations gathered over the course of a lifetime as a poet, memoirist, musician and three-term U.S. poet laureate.”—Jane Marcellus, Chapter 16/Chattanooga Times Free Press

Included on Book Riot’s list of “22 Must-Read Indigenous Authors”

“A must-read for any fan of poetry and literature. This new memoir contains Harjo’s ruminations on a half-century of writing and activism.”—Bustle, “October Best Books”

Praise for Joy Harjo:

“I turn and return to Harjo’s poetry for her breathtaking complex witness and for her world-remaking language.”—Adrienne Rich

“[Harjo’s] poetry is light and elixir, the very best prescription for us in wounded times.”—Sandra Cisneros, The Millions

About the Author

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the twenty-third Poet Laureate of the United States. Her books include Poet Warrior and An American Sunrise. She is the winner of numerous awards, including the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Book Critics Circle; the 2022 Academy of American Poets Leadership Award; and the 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, awarded by the Yale University Library.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Reprint edition (October 4, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300257031
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300257038
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 0.65 x 7.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #189,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #97 in Poetry Literary Criticism (Books)
- #496 in Literary Criticism & Theory
- #557 in Author Biographies

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4.7 43 ratings

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Joy Harjo

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Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned poet, performer, and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. Harjo is the author of ten books of poetry, several plays, children's books, and two memoirs; she has also produced seven award-winning music albums and edited several anthologies. Her many honors include the Ruth Lily Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, two NEA fellowships, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Tulsa Artist Fellowship. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the Bob Dylan Center.

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Cara Douglas

Excellent insights to her writing process.

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2023

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missmickee-bookreview

The Observations of a Native Scribe: A Life Journey, Culture and Education ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2023

Catching The Light (Why I Write) – Joy Harjo – (2022)
This inspirational creative writing series is called: “Why I Write”. Here, the internationally renowned author, poet, educator, Joy Harjo (the first Native American the 23rd Poet Laurate of the United States) presents this essay collection that showcase her most remarkable gifts as a storyteller and teacher of the literary arts.
In the book, especially through poetry and music the voices of her ancestors are brought forth: whether Joy is writing about life on Muscogee Creek Nation Reservation (a Confederacy of small tribal towns/culture near Tulsa, Oklahoma) – the “Mother Earth” cycle representation of birth (the giving of life) and renewal – land and natural elements are shared with the forces of nature with plants and animals – rivers carry the emotional waves of native culture. The earth and climate crisis fosters a disconnection from the universal laws that were honored and taught by native people: not to take more than you can use, respect life, the giving of life, and give back.

When Joy began her formal education at the University of New Mexico she was a single mother, and recalls the time of great social unrest: how the Native Rights Movement emerged with the Civil Rights Movement and the national protests over the Vietnam War. Joy joined a writing community in Albuquerque, after being overcome by depression and despair and found peace in drawing, painting and other forms of artistic and literary expression.
The international “One World Poetry Festival” was held in Amsterdam (1980). Joy met James Welsh (1940-2003) known as the Native American Renaissance Poet: he appeared as distinguished and scholarly, without beads, feathers, and long braided hair. Regarding the tools and elements for writing: the skills can naturally be improved with listening, reading and ongoing practice. Joy also explained to readers that: “Every poem is a prayer-” and within this, the power of possibility, to transform and heal. **With thanks to Yale University Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.

2 people found this helpful

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Phaedra Cates

Poetic Memoir

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2022

A collection of micro-essays that range from memoir and biography to ruminations on writing and indigeneity. Joy Harjo writes with an economy of words that echoes her poetic background. I found the pieces on language and colonization more interesting than the purely biographical ones, but a reader who is familiar with and loves Harjo will enjoy insights into her background and process and how she came to be the powerhouse writer she is today.

One person found this helpful

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Beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2022

Poetry is not a career–it is a state of being.
from Catching the Light by Jo Harjo

In Catching the Light p, Harjo addresses the birth and purpose of poetry in her life and in her heritage. Her book is a testament to the power of words, how they shed light on the dark places and empower those from whom power has been taken away. Poetry connects us; poetry give us the power to survive; poetry cries out for justice and extolls beauty. Poetry is about connection. And it is this that is most important, especially today when hatred and division and the pandemic have separated us.

I consider every poem a kind of love poem.
from Catching the Light by Jo Harjo

Harjo’s writing about the indigenous experience and history is powerful, and I am reminded again how little I understand the experience of so many people, being of European ancestry and growing up working class. Sure, my ancestor in the 16th c was persecuted and jailed for being an Anabaptist. And the British let my Irish ancestors starve and my German nationalist ancestors fled Russian oppression just before WWI. And, yes, my immigrant Swiss Brethren ancestor colonized the Shenandoah Valley and was scalped along with his wife, and four of his children murdered, and his son taken hostage. But my cultural heritage prevailed, my ancestors took over the country. Their children were not taken away to be ‘educated’ in schools of abuse, their language and culture taken away. We took the land and used it up and poisoned it. We enslaved people and denied their humanity. We made the laws that protected us.

And we are the lesser for having prevailed. We did not listen to the wisdom offered by Native Americans about how to live in this world and how to cherish it.

“Every poem is a prayer, a supplication in the cacophony of humanity,” Harjo writes. “There are more words now than ever,” she continues, we are deluged by them. Words can separate and destroy, but they are also “made of ancient songs of coming together that lift us over and through to beauty.” Poetry can “speak to the truth of an age,” and Harjo encourages us to tell our stories, to “catch the light.”

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

4 people found this helpful

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Earl

Beautifully written and inspiring

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2022

Catching the Light by Joy Harjo, part of the Why I Write series, offers both wonderful insight into her writing life as well as inspiring perspective on the power of words, especially poetry.

This is the third book in this series I have read and what makes them powerful is that they are all very personal. In this volume we get a glimpse into Harjo's early life, how contemporary lives are in conversation with past and future lives, and what can be accomplished with words. The things fulfilled through writing are personal (as in making her life better), cultural (both within and between cultures), and political (at the very least through making people see others as human beings rather than labels).

This is one of those books that will reward returning to the book in the future. Whether I come back to the volume as a whole or revisit particularly compelling chapters, I know that I will be coming back to it. For comfort, for stimulation, and for inspiration.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys Harjo's poetry as well as those who like looking behind the curtain of great writers. This also will be a great source of inspiration (yeah, I have said that a lot, but it fits) for writers who might be wondering why they write.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

3 people found this helpful

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TeriB

Just amazing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

I started my reading year with An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo and had found it to be the best start into 2022. So when I saw that her newest publication, this amazing, beautiful, uplifting book was available for review on Netgalley I jumped to the occasion.

Having read it in one go, the book comes in captured moments where Joy Harjo reflects on her journey with her writing and her life, that is both personal and political, I would like to recommend this book to everyone to read.

It touches, it opens up now horizons, it offers forgiveness, where there is so much hate, it really is Catching the Light.

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