In 'Poet Warrior', Joy Harjo uses poetry to deal with pain and heal

This week, we're celebrating National Poetry Month by revisiting some of our favorite conversations with poets. Joy Harjo, who was the U.S. poet laureate from 2019 to 2022, says she has always been drawn to healing ever since she was little. She even studied pre-med in college. But it wasn't until Harjo heard Native poets that she realized "this is a powerful tool of understanding and affirmation." She shares her poetry and story in the book, Poet Warrior . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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In 'Poet Warrior', Joy Harjo uses poetry to deal with pain and heal is an episode from NPR's Book of the Day by NPR.

This episode is 9:04 long.

This episode was published on Apr 21, 2026.

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