American poet Ada Limón
Credit: Shawn Miller, Library of Congress

March is Women’s History Month, an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature woman pioneers in a variety of areas.

Pioneers venture into unknown territories and uncharted waters. A genuine poetry pioneer, Ada Limón has found new ways to interact with readers and big emotions. Limón was named poet laureate of the United States in 2022. The poet laureate is appointed by the librarian of Congress and works to increase the national appreciation and awareness of poetry. Limón, who is of Mexican American heritage, was the first Hispanic American woman chosen for the position. She succeeded the American poet and musician Joy Harjo, who was the poet laureate from 2019 to 2022.

Limon’s style is melodic and accessible. The images in her poetry often embrace the natural world, in which she frequently finds a sense of wonder. The librarian of Congress Carla Hayden praised Limon’s poems for exploring “the beauty and heartbreak that is living, in ways that help us move forward.”

Limon’s first poetry collections were Lucky Wreck and This Big Fake World: A Story in Verse (both 2006). Her third collection, Sharks in the Rivers (2010), considers the possibility of embracing change and finding beauty in a risky, ever-changing world. Bright Dead Things (2015) deals with carrying on and preserving one’s identity in the face of loss and alienation. Her poetry collections also include The Carrying (2018) and The Hurting Kind (2022).

Ada Limón was born on March 28, 1976, in Sonoma, California. She completed a B.A. degree in drama at the University of Washington in 1998. She earned an M.F.A. degree in creative writing from New York University in 2001. She worked in marketing for magazine firms in New York City, before she began writing full time in 2010.

In 2014, Limón began teaching in the M.F.A. program of Queens University of Charlotte, in North Carolina. She often gives readings of her poetry. In 2021 and 2022, she was the host of the poetry podcast called “The Slowdown,” which offers a few moments of reflection through the reading of a poem each weekday. The podcast was launched in 2019 by the poet Tracy K. Smith during her term as poet laureate of the United States.

Poet Laureate of the United States Joy Harjo
Credit: Shawn Miller, Library of Congress

April is National Poetry Month, an annual celebration of this unique form of literature. Each week, Behind the Headlines will feature the art of poetry or a famous poet.

National Poetry Month promotes the appreciation and awareness of poetry. So, too, does Joy Harjo, the poet laureate of the United States. The poet laureate is the official poet of a state or nation. Harjo is a writer, a musician, and a member of the Muskogee (also spelled Muscogee or Mvskoke) Creek Nation. In 2019, she became the first Native American chosen to be poet laureate of the United States.

Harjo was born Joy Foster in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 9, 1951. Her father was Muskogee Creek, and her mother was of Cherokee and European ancestry. At age 19, Joy became a member of the Muskogee Creek Nation and took the last name of her father’s mother—Harjo—a common last name among the Muskogee. Harjo earned a B.A. degree in creative writing from the University of New Mexico in 1976 and an M.F.A. degree from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1978. She has since taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico and at universities in several states.

In 1975, Harjo published her first collection of poems in a short book called The Last Song. Her first full-length volume of poetry was What Moon Drove Me to This? (1979). Her poetry became well known with such collections as She Had Some Horses (1983), In Mad Love and War (1990), and The Woman Who Fell from the Sky (1994). Her forceful, intimate style draws on both natural and spiritual influences. Her poems often incorporate elements of Native American mythology and imagery. Harjo’s later collections include A Map to the Next World (2000), How We Became Human (2002), Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (2015), and An American Sunrise (2019). She has won many awards for her work.

Harjo also wrote The Good Luck Cat (2000), a children’s picture book about a girl who worries about her lucky cat, who has used up eight of his nine lives. A poetic picture book for young adults called For a Girl Becoming (2009) celebrates the birth of a baby girl and the girl’s path to adulthood. Harjo’s memoir, Crazy Brave (2012), describes her own youth and her discovery of her creative voice.

Harjo has written screenplays for television and contributed, as a writer or narrator, to several documentaries on aspects of Native American culture. As an accomplished musician and saxophone player, she has released several recordings. She also is an activist for Native American and other causes.

American poet Amanda Gorman
Credit: © Kathy Hutchins, Shutterstock

On January 20, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. On the west front of the United States Capitol, musicians performed, religious leaders prayed, and a new president delivered an inaugural address. Among the many speakers was the American poet Amanda Gorman. A 22-year-old Black woman, Gorman became the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration.

The poem, titled “The Hill We Climb,” was written for the occasion and referenced the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, just two weeks before the inauguration. In the attack, rioters supporting outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the building in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, which Biden won. Gorman’s poem read in part:

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed,

It can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith, we trust.

For while we have our eyes on the future,

history has its eyes on us.

Many observers described Gorman’s performance as extremely moving, bringing the poem’s beautiful, powerful words to life. Her expressive voice guided listeners through the past, present, and future of the United States. The poem and her performance were met with much acclaim.

Gorman was born in 1998 in Los Angeles, California. She struggled with a speech impediment as a child. Gorman studied at Harvard University. She had her first published collection of poetry with The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough (2015). Her work includes themes of feminism and racial oppression. In 2017, she was named the first U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate by the youth writing program Urban Word NYC in cooperation with the Library of Congress.

Gorman became one of only a few of poets to perform at a presidential inauguration, joining such legends as Maya Angelou and Robert Frost. In 1993, Angelou performed the poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. Frost recited his poem “The Gift Outright” at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.

September 18, 2019

Tomorrow, September 19, writer Joy Harjo will become the first Native American poet laureate of the United States. The poet laureate, appointed by the librarian of Congress, works to increase the national appreciation and awareness of poetry. Harjo is a member of the Muskogee (also spelled Muscogee or Mvskoke) Creek Nation. Harjo will succeed the American poet Tracy K. Smith, who has served in the position since 2017.

Native American writer Joy Harjo will become poet laureate of the United States on Sept. 19, 2019. Credit: Shawn Miller, Library of Congress

Harjo was born Joy Foster in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 9, 1951. Her father was Muskogee Creek, and her mother was of Cherokee and European ancestry. At age 19, Joy became a member of the Muskogee Creek Nation and took the last name of her father’s mother—Harjo—a common last name among the Muskogee. Harjo earned a B.A. degree in creative writing from the University of New Mexico in 1976 and an M.F.A. degree from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1978. She has since taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico and at universities in several states.

In 1975, Harjo published her first collection of poems in a short book called The Last Song. Her first full-length volume of poetry was What Moon Drove Me to This? (1979). Her poetry became well known with such collections as She Had Some Horses (1983), In Mad Love and War (1990), and The Woman Who Fell from the Sky (1994). Her forceful, intimate style draws on both natural and spiritual influences. Her poems often incorporate elements of Native American mythology and imagery. Harjo’s later collections include A Map to the Next World (2000), How We Became Human (2002), Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (2015), and An American Sunrise (2019). She has won many awards for her work.

Harjo also wrote The Good Luck Cat (2000), a children’s picture book about a girl who worries about her lucky cat, which has used up eight of its nine lives. A poetic picture book for young adults called For a Girl Becoming (2009) celebrates the birth of a baby girl and the girl’s path to adulthood. Harjo’s memoir, Crazy Brave (2012), describes her own youth and her discovery of her creative voice.

Harjo has written screenplays for television and contributed, as a writer or narrator, to several documentaries on aspects of Native American culture. As an accomplished musician and saxophone player, she has released several recordings. She also is an activist for Native American and other causes.

September 15, 2017

Today, September 15, marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month (Mes de la Herencia Hispana) in the United States. To celebrate the month, World Book begins by highlighting the life and achievements of writer Juan Felipe Herrera. In 2015, Herrera became the first Chicano to be appointed poet laureate of the United States. A Chicano is a person of Mexican descent who was born in the United States or who identifies with that group. Since the late 1900’s, Herrera has been a leading voice in exploring the Mexican American experience in the United States. In addition to his adult and children’s poetry, Herrera’s work includes video, photography, theater, and performance pieces. Poet Tracy K. White will replace Herrera as poet laureate later this year.

Juan Felipe Herrera was appointed poet laureate of the United States in 2015. Credit: Oregon State University (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

Herrera has lived almost his entire life in California, and his writings are strongly influenced by his experiences growing up in the state as a Chicano. He published his first book of poetry, Rebozos of Love, in 1974. Herrera’s other major books include the memoir Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of America (1997), and the poetry collections Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream (1999), Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems (2008), Senegal Taxi (2013), and Notes on the Assemblage (2015). CrashBoomLove (1999) is a novel in verse. Herrera has written several children’s books, including the autobiographical The Upside Down Boy (2000) and Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes (2014).

Herrera was born in Fowler, California, on Dec. 27, 1948, the son of migrant farmworkers. In 1972, he received a B.A. degree in social anthropology from the University of California at Los Angeles. He received an M.A. degree in anthropology from Stanford University in 1980 and an M.F.A. degree from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1990. Herrera was a professor of Chicano and Latin American Studies at California State University, Fresno, from 1990 to 2004. In 2005, he joined the creative writing department at the University of California at Riverside. Herrera was named poet laureate of California in 2012. He retired from teaching in 2015.

Credit: © National Hispanic Heritage Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the achievements and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans and celebrates their heritage and culture. September 15 was chosen to begin the month because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico (September 16), Chile (September 18), and Belize (September 21) also celebrate independence days during Hispanic Heritage Month.

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., hosts a variety of events during National Hispanic Heritage Month. The National Endowment for the Humanities website features numerous online exhibits and collections related to Hispanic Americans and Latino culture and history. For more information, see the official government website.