U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, whose acclaimed An American Sunrise is the focus of the Library’s Big Read 2022, reads and discusses her work in the featured event of the six-week, community-wide initiative.

Harjo, a poet, memoirist, playwright, and musician, is the first Native American to serve as U.S. poet laureate and only the second laureate appointed for a third term. The author of nine books of poetry and two children’s books, she has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received, among other honors, the PEN USA Literary Award, two NEA Fellowships, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. 

The National Endowment for the Arts-supported Big Read is a six-week event that aims to broaden our understanding of the world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a book. The program is in partnership with Arts Midwest with additional funding through the Missouri Humanities Council.

Explore Big Read 2022 at kclibrary.org/bigread.