Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 17 hours ago
Joy Harjo (78MFA), the current U.S. Poet Laureate and the first Native American to hold the position. An internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee Creek Nation, Harjo has written nine books of poetry, several plays and children’s books, and a memoir. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate has received numerous honors, including the Poetry Foundation’s Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize, an Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Harjo’s memoir, Crazy Brave, won several awards, including the PEN USA Literary Award for Creative Non-Fiction and the American Book Award. Additionally, she is a renowned musician and performs internationally with her band, the Arrow Dynamics, which has recorded five award-winning albums.
Hosted by Lan Samantha Chang (93MFA), program director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Elizabeth M. Stanley Professor in the Arts. Her work has been translated into nine languages and featured twice in The Best American Short Stories.
Chat From the Old Cap is a series of virtual engagement sessions featuring Iowa alumni and friends sharing stories from their careers, backgrounds, and the university that unites us. To learn about upcoming events, visit foriowa.org/events.
Joy Harjo (78MFA), the current U.S. Poet Laureate and the first Native American to hold the position. An internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee Creek Nation, Harjo has written nine books of poetry, several plays and children’s books, and a memoir. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate has received numerous honors, including the Poetry Foundation’s Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize, an Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Harjo’s memoir, Crazy Brave, won several awards, including the PEN USA Literary Award for Creative Non-Fiction and the American Book Award. Additionally, she is a renowned musician and performs internationally with her band, the Arrow Dynamics, which has recorded five award-winning albums.
Hosted by Lan Samantha Chang (93MFA), program director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Elizabeth M. Stanley Professor in the Arts. Her work has been translated into nine languages and featured twice in The Best American Short Stories.
Chat From the Old Cap is a series of virtual engagement sessions featuring Iowa alumni and friends sharing stories from their careers, backgrounds, and the university that unites us. To learn about upcoming events, visit foriowa.org/events.
