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Joy Harjo

I Pray For My Enemies

Release Date: March 5, 2021

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Interview with Resilience Radio at KVMR: Nevada City, CA
Joy Harjo Reflects On Time As U.S. with News On 6/KOTV
Joy Harjo's Inaugural Reading as U.S. Poet Laureate
Governor's Arts Awards
U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo visits Wake Forest
Joy Harjo Ends Historic 3rd Term As US Poet Laureate
1 Allay Na Lee No  
2 An American Sunrise  
3 Calling The Spirit Back  
4 How Love Blows Through The Trees  
5 Earth House  
6 Fear  
7 Running  
8 We Emerged From Night In Clothes Of Sunrise  
9 Midnight Is A Horn Player  
10 Once The World Was Perfect  
11 Rabbit Invents The Saxophone  
12 Remember  
13 Why Is Beauty?  
14 One Day There Will Be Horses  
15 Stomp All Night  
16 This Morning I Pray For My Enemies  
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In her first new recording in a decade, Joy Harjo – the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States – digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music to sing, speak and play a stunningly original musical meditation that seeks healing for a troubled world – I Pray for My Enemies, to be released from Sunyata Records/Sony Orchard Distribution on March 5, 2021.

Collaborating with producer/engineer Barrett Martin on this unique new album, Harjo brings a fresh identity to the poetry and songs that have made her a renowned poet of the Muscogee Creek Nation and one of the most authentic and compelling voices of these times. 

"The concept for I Pray for My Enemies began" says Harjo, "with an urgent need to deal with discord, opposition. It could have been on a tribal, national or a personal level. I no longer remember. The urgency had a heartbeat and in any gathering of two or more, perhaps the whole planet, our hearts lean to entrainment – that is, to beat together." 

Latin Grammy-winning producer, composer and founding father of the historic Seattle music scene, Barrett Martin brings a new dimension to Harjo's unique sound-world – her words and music spoken, sung and explored in a vibrant mix of classic instrumental sounds. Harjo and Martin describe it as "funkified spoken word" inspiring "elegant jazz, urban soul, and inner city, reservation grit." Harjo sings and speaks her poetry, as well as playing saxophone and flute, on an album she describes as "very much of-the-moment."

Harjo defines songs and poems as distinctly different expressions, and both are featured in the 16 tracks that make up I Pray for My Enemies. Her words and music, older and newer, get a fresh new identity here. The album opens, however, with a traditional Muscogee song "Allay Na Lee No." "Music travels," she says, adding, "It travels through history, ancestors and especially loves ports and waterways." 

PRESS SECURED BY DOREEN D'AGOSTINO

  • NPR's Diane Rehm is in conversation with US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo
    Posted At: February 25, 2022 12:00 AM
    Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She is serving her second term as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States.The author of nine books of poetry, including the highly acclaimed An American Sunrise, several plays and children's books, and two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior: A Call for Love and Justice, her many honors include the Ruth Lily ...
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  • Joy Harjo named Bob Dylan Centers first 'Artist-in-Residence' / Pitchfork
    Posted At: February 21, 2022 12:00 AM
    The U.S. poet laureate will spend six years presenting educational programs and live performances at the new center in TulsaPitchfork's Jazz Monroe writes…Joy Harjo has been named the first artist-in-residence at the new Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The U.S. poet laureate (and Tulsa native) begins her six-year tenure when the center opens on May 10. In the role, she will present educational programs...
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  • Joy Harjo - I Pray For My Enemies makes 'The Best of Elsewhere 2021
    Posted At: December 20, 2021 12:00 AM
    Elsewhere's Graham Reid writes…..What an odd year in music when the discussion points were the new chart-topping but mundane Abba album, something from Elton John again and the Beatles who – thanks to Peter Jackson – invited us in to their recording sessions 52 years ago. We just needed a new Sir Cliff album to have a retro-fitted villa full of period charm. Nice to have Adele and Tony Bennett back though. ...
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  • Joy Harjo says for 'Indigenous Cultures', the land 'is the keeper of our bones, stories, and songs' / People
    Posted At: November 24, 2021 12:00 AM

    Joy Harjo reflects on loss and the things she continues to hold dear - memories of her late mother, Navajo horse songs - when describing her journey as a poet and champion of justice in her new memoir Poet Warrior. In 2019, she was the first Native American to be named Poet Laureate and is currently in her third term. Harjo, who is of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, has penned a range of works, includin...
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  • WAMU's 1A chats with U.S. Poet Laureate; Joy Harjo
    Posted At: May 11, 2021 12:00 AM

    WAMU: Washington DC - Kathryn Fink writes.....U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo has been busy during the pandemic. She recently released her first spoken word album in over a decade entitled "I Pray For My Enemies." She edited a new anthology called "Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry." And she's set to release a new memoir this fall. Oh, did we mention she's also been appo...
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  • Spoken-word albums have never sounded so good as Joy Harjo's 'I Pray for My Enemies' / GOLDMINE
    Posted At: May 10, 2021 12:00 AM

    GOLDMINE's Mike Greenblatt writes....America borrowed its tradition of having an appointed Poet Laureate (since 1936) from Great Britain. Native American Joy Harjo is one such individual. She's also a singer-songwriter-author and with the help of the supremely talented Barrett Martin, has written and produced one of the most unique albums of the year. Harjo's spoken-word entreaties are thought-provok...
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  • There is so much more than Joy Harjo's Native American poetry contained on 'I Pray For My Enemies' / Skope Magazine
    Posted At: May 2, 2021 12:00 AM

    Skope - Dan MacIntosh......To say Joy Harjo is unique, would be putting it mildly. Joy Harjo is an American poet, playwright, musician, and author. Her album, I Pray for My Enemies, is filled with poetry, just as you would expect from a United States Poet Laureate. However, there is so much more than Harjo's Native American poetry contained on the album. Harjo is also a skilled saxophonist and incorporat...
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  • Joy Harjo's 'I Pray for My Enemies' is packed full of substance and meaning / The Alternate Root
    Posted At: May 1, 2021 12:00 AM

    The Alternate Root's Chris Wheatley writes.....Joy Harjo is a fascinating figure; an author, playwright and, of course, the first Native American Poet Laureate of the U.S.. Here, she is joined by an equally compelling cast of musicians, including R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Black Crowes' Rich Robinson, and Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on electric guitars, Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) on acoustic guita...
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  • 'I Pray for My Enemies' is a top-notch album of singing, speaking and playing, for healing a troubled world / PublicRadio90
    Posted At: April 30, 2021 12:00 AM

    I Pray For My Enemies is the name of the first new recording in a decade from Joy Harjo, the first Native American to be named Poet Laureate of the United States. It's an album of singing, speaking and playing from Joy and a variety of top-notch musicians that seeks healing for a troubled world. It was released March 5th, 2021, and Michigan's PublicRadio90 KURT HAUSWIRTH spoke with ...
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  • On 'I Pray for My Enemies' Joy Harjo digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music / 91.7WSUM
    Posted At: April 26, 2021 12:00 AM

    In her first new recording in a decade, Joy Harjo – the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States – digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music to sing, speak and play a stunningly original musical meditation that seeks healing for a troubled world – "I Pray for My Enemies", released on Sunyata Records on March 5, has Harjo collaboratin...
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  • Joy Harjo's first album in a decade is epic, expansive, hard hitting, reflective, provocative, healing and joyful / MUSIC CONNECTION
    Posted At: April 26, 2021 12:00 AM

    MUSIC CONNECTION's Jonathan Widran writes.....On Joy Harjo's epic, expansive, emotionally hard hitting, reflective, provocative and ultimately healing and dare we say joyful first album in a decade, the incumbent U.S. Poet Laureate – the first Native American to hold that honor – and award winning musical artist and saxophonist joins forces with Latin Grammy winning producer Barrett M...
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  • Joy Harjo - I Pray For My Enemies is immensely powerful / Elsewhere
    Posted At: April 18, 2021 12:00 AM
    Elsewhere's Graham Reid writes…..We are forgiven for not knowing much if anything about Joy Harjo who is the current Poet Laureate in the US and the first Native American to hold that title. Harjo (Muscogee Creek Nation) has won more accolades than we could count and at almost 70 has built a huge body of written work and half a dozen albums where she reads her powerful work with various traditional and cont...
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  • Joy Harjo reflects on the lessons, rituals and gifts of the pandemic year / The Lily
    Posted At: April 17, 2021 12:00 AM

    Poetry ‘can hold grief that's too heavy to bear.' U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo reflects on the lessons, rituals and gifts of the pandemic year. The Lily's Anne Branigin writes.....Before the pandemic, poet Joy Harjo was "running towards exhaustion." At the time, Harjo, then on her second term as U.S. poet laureate, was bouncing between speaking engagements, as well as embarking on her l...
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  • On 'I Pray For My Enemies,' Joy Harjo brings together poetry, jazz, funk, and traditional Muscogee music and rhythms / Iowa Public Radio
    Posted At: April 15, 2021 12:00 AM

    Iowa Public Radio writes.....Joy Harjo is many things. She is in her third term as U.S. Poet Laureate. She is the first Native American to serve as America's poet. She is an author, editor and poet. She is a songwriter, singer and musician. She is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She is a member of the Muscogee-Creek Nation and has lived in many places, including Iowa City for a time when she...
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  • NATIVE AMERICA CALLING's April Music Maker is Joy Harjo. A celebration of the music and poetry
    Posted At: April 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    NATIVE AMERICA CALLING's ART HUGHES writes.....With a mix of spoken word and jazzy soul sounds, Muscogee Creek Nation musician Joy Harjo might make listeners want to dance to her new album "I Pray for My Enemies". But her creations are also meant to make people think and feel. Harjo, the nation's first Native American Poet Laureate, features words in her Muscogee language layered with graceful jazz. ...
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  • Joy Harjo discusses 'I Pray for My Enemies' with Spokane Public Radio
    Posted At: April 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    In her first new recording in a decade, Joy Harjo – the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States – digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music to sing, speak and play a stunningly original musical meditation that seeks healing for a troubled world – I Pray for My Enemies, was released from Sunyata Records/Sony Orchard Distribution...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Joy Harjo talks with 91.9WUOT about her brilliant new recording; 'I Pray For My Enemies'
    Posted At: April 7, 2021 12:00 AM

    In her first new recording in a decade, Joy Harjo – the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States – digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music to sing, speak and play a stunningly original musical meditation that seeks healing for a troubled world – I Pray for My Enemies, to be released from Sunyata Records/Sony Orchard Distributi...
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  • Joy Harjo discusses 'I Pray for My Enemies' with 89.5KVMR's 'Resilience Radio'
    Posted At: April 1, 2021 12:00 AM

    In her first new recording in a decade, Joy Harjo – the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States – digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music to sing, speak and play a stunningly original musical meditation that seeks healing for a troubled world – I Pray for My Enemies, was released from Sunyata Records/Sony Orchard Distribution...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Joy Harjo digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music to sing, speak and play a stunningly original musical meditation 'I Pray for My Enemies' / 91.7WSUM
    Posted At: March 26, 2021 12:00 AM

    91.7WSUM - GreenArrow's misterG writes.....In her first new recording in a decade, Joy Harjo – the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States – digs deep into the indigenous red earth and the shared languages of music to sing, speak and play a stunningly original musical meditation that seeks healing for a troubled world – "I Pray for My Enemies", released on Sun...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Joy Harjo set to be inducted into 'American Academy of Arts and Letters,' as the instititution expands and diversifies / AP
    Posted At: March 5, 2021 12:00 AM

    AP's HILLEL ITALIE writes...... One of the country's oldest cultural instititutions, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, is undergoing some of its biggest changes in more than a century. For the first time since 1908, the academy is expanding its core membership, from 250 artists in literature, music and art and architecture, to 300 by 2025. And this year's inductees, 33 of them, are th...
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  • America Are We Ready for the First 100 Days? Native American Tribal Sovereignty / WNYC
    Posted At: March 5, 2021 12:00 AM

    #Airing LIVE Thursday, March 4th, 8-9pm ET, Join the national conversation with WNYC host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work. America, Are We Ready for the First 100 Days? President Biden's nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland (D, NM) to be Secretary of the Interior would put a Native American (Laguna Pueblo) in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the first time ever and per...
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  • Joy Harjo brings a fresh identity to 'I Pray for My Enemies' / glideMAGAZINE
    Posted At: March 5, 2021 12:00 AM

    GlideMagazine's Jim Hynes writes.....Female poets are all the buzz now. Awarding-winning poet Joy Harjo (not to be confused with Amanda Gordon), member of the Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma, is the first Native American to serve as U.S. Poet Laureate. She is also a musician who plays several woodwind instruments. On Pray For My Enemies, her first new recording in a decade, she shares language...
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  • Joy Harjo says the 'anthology of native nations poetry is a doorway' / NPR
    Posted At: September 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    NPR: All Things Considered writes.....U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo has authored numerous books of poetry, two children's books and a memoir, Crazy Brave. She is a mem­ber of the Mvskoke Nation. As U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo was working on the Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, she and the other editors decided they needed to hear the whole collection. "At one point in the editin...
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