University of Tennessee professor named new poet laureate in groundbreaking appointment

The country's new poet laureate has been named and not only is she the first Native American to serve in the position, she's also from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.  

Joy Harjo takes up her duties at the Library of Congress in the fall. She lives in Oklahoma now as a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, the Library of Congress said in a press release, but most recently worked as a professor and chair of excellence at UT. 

“I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible, and how time and timelessness can live together within a poem," Harjo said in a press release announcing the honor. 

In addition to being an author of eight books of poetry, she also is an accomplished musician. As a performer, Harjo has appeared on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam.”

While she was a professor in Knoxville, Harjo won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, a $100,000 award that annually recognizes the work of a living American poet for outstanding lifetime accomplishments.

Poets laureate seek to "raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry." They open and close each year the literary season at the Library of Congress. 

Another famous poet:'She made it cool to be your authentic black self': Knoxville celebrates Nikki Giovanni

Watch her powerful speech:Nikki Giovanni: I'm so proud to be a Knoxvillian