Big Read Morongo Basin, an annual community-wide reading event begins September 28. Entertainment Reporter Charlie Thomas shares the details…
Big Read Morongo Basin, kicks-off it’s 2021 program with a one night only live event with United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo on Tuesday, September 28, from 5PM to 8PM at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center. Ms. Harjo, the first Native American to hold the post, will be reading from her featured book, An American Sunrise and will be providing commentary throughout. In 2019, Joy Harjo was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold the position and only the second person to serve three terms in the role. Harjo’s nine books of poetry include An American Sunrise, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, and She Had Some Horses. She is also the author of two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, which invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her “poet-warrior” road. She has edited several anthologies of Native American writing including When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through — A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, and Living Nations, Living Words, the companion anthology to her signature poet laureate project. Her many writing awards include the 2019 Jackson Prize from the Poetry Society of America, the Ruth Lilly Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the 2015 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and holds a Tulsa Artist Fellowship. A renowned musician, Harjo performs with her saxophone nationally and internationally; her most recent album is I Pray For My Enemies. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The reading is free, but seating is limited. All attendees will need to provide proof of vaccination and face masking will be required. The NEA Big Read Morongo Basin is presented by Arts Connection, the Arts Council of San Bernardino County in partnership with the Joshua Tree Retreat Center and media sponsor Z107.7. The NEA Big Read aims to build community and inspire conversation through the joy of sharing a good book. To learn more about the Big Read and for our full schedule of events and to reserve seating, visit: www.BigReadMorongoBasin.com.
