IAIA's Harjo becomes nation's first Native poet laureate

“It’s quite an honor, and I’m just at the very beginning,” she told poets.org prior to the announcement. “I’m assessing how I can be most useful in this position and, of course, it’s going to have a lot to do with Native Nations poets. … It’s also about of course American poetry and American voices, which is really how we sing the American story, which involves all of the voices.” In 1979, she burst into the public consciousness with her first full-length volume of poetry, What Moon Drove Me to This? The author of eight books of poetry and a memoir, as well as essays and theatrical works, Harjo, a saxophonist, also has recorded four albums as a solo artist and with her band, the Arrow Dynamics.