Catching the Light by Joy Harjo is a lyrical collection of essays about the power of words and poetry.

I was unable to read this book although I really wanted to. I sent the manuscript to my kindle but as it appeared on the device, I had a dark background with dark text which made impossible to read. This is too bad because I recently graduated with an MFA in poetry and Joy Harjo is a very significant figure in poetry right now which was why I wanted to have a chance to look at the book. I haven't had this problem with other books I've sent to my kindle device. I am giving this book a five star rating because I'm sure it is worth one, give it is Joy Harjo. But I also wanted to let you guys know what happened rather than just send a curt statement that I won't be reviewing the book. There was a reason.

Loved this so much. Everything by Harjo is an amazing read. This one is interesting due to its format.

a stunning display of poetry from one of the most beautiful poets of this generation. Love the work Joy Harjo produces.

Catching The Light (Why I Write) – Joy Harjo – (2022)
This inspirational creative writing series is called: “Why I Write”. Here, the internationally renowned author, poet, educator, Joy Harjo (the first Native American the 23rd Poet Laurate of the United States) presents this essay collection that showcase her most remarkable gifts as a storyteller and teacher of the literary arts.
In the book, especially through poetry and music the voices of her ancestors are brought forth: whether Joy is writing about life on Muscogee Creek Nation Reservation (a Confederacy of small tribal towns/culture near Tulsa, Oklahoma) – the “Mother Earth” cycle representation of birth (the giving of life) and renewal – land and natural elements are shared with the forces of nature with plants and animals – rivers carry the emotional waves of native culture. The earth and climate crisis fosters a disconnection from the universal laws that were honored and taught by native people: not to take more than you can use, respect life, the giving of life, and give back.

When Joy began her formal education at the University of New Mexico she was a single mother, and recalls the time of great social unrest: how the Native Rights Movement emerged with the Civil Rights Movement and the national protests over the Vietnam War. Joy joined a writing community in Albuquerque, after being overcome by depression and despair and found peace in drawing, painting and other forms of artistic and literary expression.
The international “One World Poetry Festival” was held in Amsterdam (1980). Joy met James Welsh (1940-2003) known as the Native American Renaissance Poet: he appeared as distinguished and scholarly, without beads, feathers, and long braided hair. Regarding the tools and elements for writing: the skills can naturally be improved with listening, reading and ongoing practice. Joy also explained to readers that: “Every poem is a prayer-” and within this, the power of possibility, to transform and heal. **With thanks to Yale University Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.

I have previously read and admired Joy Harjo’s poetry but was not familiar with her non-fiction writing. It was interesting to hear her recount biographical incidents throughout her life as well as her approach to writing and art. As always, her writing and way with words are incredible - she can bring a scene to life in a simple and vibrant way. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.

Framed as 50 short vignettes that function as memoir and reflection on the nature of poetry and its role in our world, Harjo's new book carries on her brilliance. Each vignette resonated with me in its beauty and poignance and the way that it charts a connection between past, present, and future.

Harjo speaks of pain and trauma, of song and music and words, of power and history, of healing and restoration. Each page was quotable; each page provides deep wisdom to us in this broken world. And yet, despite the pain and trauma that seeps through the past and present, Harjo sees a future of hope and promise and healing.

Another must read by Harjo!

What a few years we have had. Brexit, Trump, Truss, pandemics, heat waves, floods, global warming etc., have all left a toll on our mental health. In addition, personally, it’s been quite a year. Family members and friends have either died or spent time in the hospital. Important technology has failed. So, it’s no surprise that I have had a reading slump to end all reading slumps. At one point, I even questioned if I was really a reader. Did I really enjoy reading? I picked up a book, read a few pages, put it down, and picked up another book, only to begin the cycle again; I needed a really good book to break the cycle. Then, browsing #netgalley, I found that @yaleunmiversitypress was publishing a book by my favourite author, Joy Harjo. I knew that if any book could break my slump, it would be this one. I was glad they allowed me to read it and give you an honest review. I was right. This was the book I needed

In this book, Harjo examines her cultural identity, Its stories and cultural philosophy. They explore her people shared trauma and how that trauma has affected her life. But it’s a love letter to; the word, the story and poetry, their ability to heal and transform. I loved this book and highly recommend that you read it.

In the course of 50 essays of varying lengths, Joy Harjo marks her years as a poet, mother, songwriter, and storied champion of Native American culture. She delivers wisdom in many areas: for young single mothers, for anyone wanting to write and seeking inspiration, for those wondering about the place of her culture in her life (answer…it’s inseparable from her and her life). The essays move chronologically, covering her life/issues from her youth and college days, through phases of her writing life, and into the present day and where she places the world of poetry today.

The writing is often lyrical as one would expect and I found myself captivated by many of her images. Her philosophy and beliefs are exciting for me to read about, being earth-centered as Native American truths are.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy poetry, Native American thought, and writing/creation in general.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A collection of micro-essays that range from memoir and biography to ruminations on writing and indigeneity. Joy Harjo writes with an economy of words that echoes her poetic background. I found the pieces on language and colonization more interesting than the purely biographical ones, but a reader who is familiar with and loves Harjo will enjoy insights into her background and process and how she came to be the powerhouse writer she is today.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

I started my reading year with An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo and had found it to be the best start into 2022. So when I saw that her newest publication, this amazing, beautiful, uplifting book was available for review on Netgalley I jumped to the occasion.

Having read it in one go, the book comes in captured moments where Joy Harjo reflects on her journey with her writing and her life, that is both personal and political, I would like to recommend this book to everyone to read.

It touches, it opens up now horizons, it offers forgiveness, where there is so much hate and despair, it really is Catching the Light.

I really liked learning more about Harjo's llife as a writer, in addition to her poetry. The blend of cultural and personal influences is clear in her writing.

The story of the poet forms the canvas of this book, with the author sharing background and insights. Ideal for those who have delved into Harjo's work and want to appreciate the source of the words.

Poetry is not a career–it is a state of being.
from Catching the Light by Jo Harjo

After reading Jo Harjo’s poetry collection Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light, I was lucky to get access to Catching the Light in which she addresses the birth and purpose of poetry in her life and in her heritage. Her book is a testament to the power of words, how they shed light on the dark places and empower those from whom power has been taken away. Poetry connects us; poetry give us the power to survive; poetry cries out for justice and extolls beauty. Poetry is about connection. And it is this that is most important, especially today when hatred and division and the pandemic have separated us.

I consider every poem a kind of love poem.
from Catching the Light by Jo Harjo

Harjo’s writing about the indigenous experience and history is powerful, and I am reminded again how little I understand the experience of so many people, being of European ancestry and growing up working class. Sure, my ancestor in the 16th c was persecuted and jailed for being an Anabaptist. And the British let my Irish ancestors starve and my German nationalist ancestors fled Russian oppression just before WWI. And, yes, my immigrant Swiss Brethren ancestor colonized the Shenandoah Valley and was scalped along with his wife, and four of his children murdered, and his son taken hostage. But my cultural heritage prevailed, my ancestors took over the country. Their children were not taken away to be ‘educated’ in schools of abuse, their language and culture taken away. We took the land and used it up and poisoned it. We enslaved people and denied their humanity. We made the laws that protected us.

And we are the lesser for having prevailed. We did not listen to the wisdom offered by Native Americans about how to live in this world and how to cherish it.

“Every poem is a prayer, a supplication in the cacophony of humanity,” Harjo writes. “There are more words now than ever,” she continues, we are deluged by them. Words can separate and destroy, but they are also “made of ancient songs of coming together that lift us over and through to beauty.” Poetry can “speak to the truth of an age,” and Harjo encourages us to tell our stories, to “catch the light.”

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Thanks to NetGalley and Yale University Press for the opportunity to read Catching the Light by Joy Harjo who had long been one of my favorite poets. This book brought a deeper understanding to who Ms. Harjo is, and how she arrived to be the woman of inspiration she is to so many.

"Catching the Light" from poet Joy Harjo is described by the author as a treatise on the why of writing poetry. For her, poetry is about catching light in the dark. This memoir feels intimate and immediate, as if the listener were sitting with Harjo in New Mexico, listening to the wisdom of her deeply spiritual stories concerning artistry, craft, and redemption. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley for this gift of an ARC.

This is a gem of a book. Joy Harjo, former poet laureate of the US, writes about the power of words and music in her life as a Mvskoke/Creek Nation. There are many strands to this book, which Harjo weaves together beautifully--memoir, cultural history, folklore, music, poems, writing are all here. She writes about her own life and how the discovery of words and poetry saved her during some very dark times. She describes the struggles she endured in her quest to get an education as a Native American woman in a difficult relationship and as a single mother caring for her kids at the same time. She tells us about her experiences in various jobs she had along the way and how she formed a band with some lawyers at one point. They named it Poetic Justice--love that!

Harjo muses on the fact that in 2021 it was the 50th anniversary of her first published poem and states, 'This treatise will be something of a journey. about the why of writing poetry. There will be fifty vignettes, some poem-centered; There are points of illumination or questioning.' (p3)

This fine book can be read through and savored with much food for thought. It can also be dipped into randomly, one or two vignettes at a time. It's definitely well worth a read--or several.

joy Harjo's newest serves as a worthy companion for her career-retrospective volume of collected poems, Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light, which is out in November (and which I already reviewed on this page). Both books celebrate fifty years of Harjo, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, writing poetry. This book is a series of fifty very brief essays, in which Harjo reflects on her career, artistic process, sources of inspiration, and on being indigenous, a relative, embedded in place. From her time as a high school student at the Institute of American Indian Arts to the pandemic, Harjo’s reflections are somehow both measured and effortless.

A fifty-year career as illustrious as Harjo’s certainly leads to a great deal of wisdom, and this short volume barely scratches the surface—but that also makes it eminently readable—fast, but also worth keeping in your pocket and returning to. Joy Harjo is one of the authors I’m never going to stop reading, and this year’s releases are ones I’ll be sticking with.