MasterClass
Joy Harjo Teaches Poetic Thinking
As the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo has written poetry that explores her personal experiences, the history of her ancestors, and social change. Now she’s teaching you how to find the language to express yourself and approach your art with deeper motivation. Explore rhythm in art, navigate the world of revisions, and unlock your innate creativity to help you express your unique stories.
Where to Watch Joy Harjo Teaches Poetic Thinking
10 Episodes
- Meet Your InstructorE1
Meet Your InstructorWhen Joy was named the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate, she was the first Native American poet to hold the title. But long before that, she was actively raising awareness about the lack of Native representation in the “American book of poetry”—because it contradicts the mythic storyline of America. - Listening Comes Before WritingE2
Listening Comes Before WritingFor many people, writing is what happens when you sit down and put pen to paper. But before we hastily jump into writing, we need to remember to listen. How can you create space for listening and inspiration before embarking upon writing? Joy shows you how to reach new levels of listening by opening up to the whole of human experience. - Going Into Difficult PlacesE3
Going Into Difficult PlacesArtists and creators feel intimidated by all kinds of blocks. In this lesson, Joy shares her belief that knowledge is endless and shares ways to access that knowledge, such as learning to draw from your dream world to find meaning. She teaches the necessity of undoing beliefs that hold you back. Drawing on these principles will fortify you to work from an endless abundance of creativity. - Unblocking CreativityE4
Unblocking CreativityWriting a poem of witness is an event in and of itself aside from the event that is being written about. In reading several types of poems, Joy shares how she views poetry of witness as essential to her political activism, the transformative power of telling the truth, and how releasing the bad can lead to a deeper understanding. - Honoring the SourceE7
Honoring the SourceEverybody confronts similar questions: What are we doing here? How did we get here? What’s going to happen next? The mystery of not knowing often brings us to poetry as a way to help us navigate those big questions and craft our origin stories. Joy teaches us to take a breath and honor our unique identities and memories by story gathering and using objects to tap into our personal mythology. - Poetry AncestorsE8
Poetry AncestorsIn this lesson, Joy encourages you to look at your favorite poems to determine your “poetry ancestors” and see how relationships to past poets emerge in your writing. Discover how everyone fits into the poetic tradition, and that there is an extensive web that includes all of us. - Mapping RepresentationE9
Mapping RepresentationJoy talks about her work as the U.S. Poet Laureate on the Living Nations, Living Words project, a digital mapping of contemporary Native poets located at the Library of Congress. She discusses how we use poetry for the most important rituals of our lives and urges you to use poetry to map your own soul.