This event will be held in-person at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch. At the library's discretion, the event could change to a virtual event on Zoom.

Join us at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch to discuss An American Sunrise, the stunning new volume of poetry by current Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States. Two hundred years after her ancestors were forcibly moved from their lands to what would become Oklahoma, Harjo returns to their homelands east of the Mississippi to open a dialogue with history. Her personal life intertwines with tribal histories, yielding poems of survival and beauty.

Cleveland poet Ali Black will lead the discussion. She is the recipient of the Academy of American Poets University & College Poetry Prize for her poem “Kinsman.” Her work has appeared in December, jubilat, LitHub, The Offing and elsewhere. Her first book of poetry, If It Heals At All, was selected by Jaki Shelton Green for the New Voices series at Jacar Press.  

NEA Big Read Northeast Ohio is a community reading program with seven months of events focusing on An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo. NEA Big Read Northeast Ohio is sponsored by Kent State University through a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant.