Joy Harjo and her band at Vassar College, February 27

Native American poet Joy Harjo, the 2003 Vassar College Writer in Residence, will play saxophone and perform her poems with her band at Vassar College on Thursday, February 27, in the Villard Room at 8:00 p.m.

Harjo, who is an enrolled member of the Muscogee Nation, is the author of seven books of poetry, including most recently, How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, 1975-2000.

Harjo and her band have performed in Europe, the Middle East, India, and South America. They were invited guests at the summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and have performed with the Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt, and Toad the Wet Sprocket. Harjo's musical compositions include elements of Native American tribal music, jazz, rock, and reggae. Her CD, Letter from the End of the Twentieth Century, won the Outstanding Music Achievement Award from the First Americans in the Arts and was hailed by Tower Records as the "best dub poetry album to be released in North America." A new CD, about to be released, is titled Native Joy.
Joy Harjo's band members, who come from Arizona and California, are Michael Sena, Al Ortiz, and Johnny Sandoval.

The Vassar College concert is a special event in celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Vassar's writer-in-residence program.

For additional information, contact the Department of English at (845) 437-5650. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Cathy Jennings at (845) 437-5370, as far in advance as possible to request appropriate and reasonable accommodations.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Friday, February 7th, 2003.