Publisher's Weekly Review
Memoir, poetry, and criticism come together in this slim but potent treatise on "the why of writing poetry" from Harjo (Poet Warrior: A Memoir). Arranged into 50 vignettes (one for each of Harjo's 50 years as a published poet), the collection shows how writing "can be useful as a tool for finding the way into or through the dark." For Harjo, that darkness includes the papal bulls that declared "indigenous peoples as non-humans" and the history of manifest destiny, which led to mass displacement and genocide: "Indigenous artists must be part of the leadership in the revision of the American story," she writes. Harjo also reflects on the start of her poetry career when she was a full-time student and single mother of two; the despair that accompanied Donald Trump's presidency ("When the despot ineptly sought to turn the country to a totalitarian nightmare, where was poetry?"); the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic; and her first encounters with literature: reading the Bible, "the only book in our home." 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. (Oct.)
Kirkus Review
The U.S. poet laureate details her unlikely path to poetic renown. The latest in the publisher's Why I Write series could also be seen as an illumination of "how I write" and "why it matters." Harjo, who previously chronicled her life in Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, offers 50 vignettes that serve as signposts and steppingstones, showing how she began her artistic "venture…as an undergrad student at the University of New Mexico, a single mother with two children (and sometimes three), who went to school full-time, starting out as a pre-med major with a minor in dance, and changing the first year to studio art, my original career intent." That was a half-century ago, and readers will be fascinated to learn how poetry, performance, song, Native culture, and an unparalleled work ethic came together to inform her artistic journey. "I worked long hours with my research position at American Indian Studies, and my full-time slate of classes, and the day-to-day childcare….I'd stay up nights painting and drawing, and then poetry elbowed its way in, when I thought I had no more room," she writes. "My long nights then became a tug-of-war between poetry, artwork, and figuring out how my little family would make it on nearly nothing." Harjo's tone is both modest and inspirational as she focuses on the process of writing poetry, or "catching light in the dark." She describes her work as not necessarily a choice but rather a calling she could not resist pursuing. The author examines how her Native identity and legacy have informed her writing and how the cultural upheavals of the 1960s and '70s shaped it, imbuing it with even stronger energy and urgency. She also describes poetry she first heard on the jukeboxes of the Southwest and how jazz became an important influence, as well. Always illuminating, Harjo writes as if the creative journey has been the destination all along. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Harjo (Poet Warrior) presents 50 vignettes on the "why" of writing poetry and song, which she aptly describes as a means of "catching light in the dark." Harjo explains how she began creating poetry because she needed a language that was beyond ordinary and found it by linking her native culture with the power of education. As a single mother in 1967, she relied on the fellowship and kindness of friends and community to support her dreams of writing while she raised two children. Harjo considers every poem love poetry with a beat because the words begin and end with rhythm. Whether the poet is writing about keeping the porch light on or an old rundown car, there is rhythm and beat. Harjo encourages listening to the music of cultures and tells how she discovered her roots (the Tulsa-born poet is an enrolled member of the Muscogee Nation). Through these 50 entries, readers will see how a poet grows and develops, both as a singular individual and a member of a society. VERDICT This highly recommended book is a comforting island for writers who enjoy reading about how authors succeed.--Joyce Sparrow
