Joy Harjo
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The first Native American poet laureate in U.S. history, Joy Harjo has won acclaim for collections like In Mad Love and War and Secrets From the Center of the World. Harjo has a diverse background, and she's been an enrolled member of the Muscogee tribe since age 19. She's been writing since 1973, and her work confronts and dismantles long-held stereotypes around Indigenous people.
"A lot of images [of Native Americans] are based on fairy tales or Wild West shows. We are human beings, not just people who have been created for people’s fantasy worlds. There’s not just one Native American," she told Time. "We’re diverse by community, by land, by language, by culture."