MONROEVILLE, Ala. – The Monroeville Literary Festival will present this year’s Harper Lee Award to former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo March 4 at the Old Courthouse Museum in Monroeville. Selected by a committee of writers and scholars, the annual award recognizes the lifetime achievement of a writer either born in Alabama or strongly connected to the state. It is funded by the generous sponsorship of Harper Lee LLC and is one of the top Southern literature awards. Previous winners include E.O. Wilson, Winston Groom, Rick Bragg and Fannie Flagg.
Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022 and is the first Native American to hold the honor. Winner of the 2022 Academy of American Poets Leadership Award, she examines the power of words and how poetry summons us toward justice and healing.
“Joy Harjo is one of the great American writers of our time. All her artistry has deep ties, familial and spiritual, to the state of Alabama,” said selection committee member Frye Gaillard. “Ms. Harjo is a member of the Muskogee Nation – and celebrates a connection to her Alabama homeland that was broken, but not erased, by the Trail of Tears. We are honored to celebrate that tie by naming Ms. Harjo the 2023 winner of the Harper Lee Award. If Miss Lee’s masterwork, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ was, as she said, a novel of empathy and justice, Joy Harjo’s writings are a powerful heir to that tradition.”
Harjo is 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.” Her many honors include the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, two NEA fellowships and a Guggenheim Fellowship. As a musician and performer, Harjo has produced seven award-winning music albums. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The festival, a project of the Monroe County Museum, will bring best-selling writers and readers together in the Literary Capital of Alabama Friday, March 3, and Saturday, March 4. Most events take place in the courtroom of the Old Courthouse Museum, famous as the setting of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” All readings and discussions are free, but advanced paid tickets are required for the opening reception and Saturday lunch.
“We have an exciting lineup of authors this year, and attendees can expect a full weekend of captivating readings, enlightening discussions, amusing conversations and Monroeville’s famous brand of hospitality,” said festival director Gail Deas. “Our courtroom is one of the South’s most celebrated literary destinations, and hearing authors read there is pure magic.”
In addition to Joy Harjo, this year’s featured writers include Robert McCammon, Patti Callahan Henry, Mary Kay Andrews, Jacqueline Allen Trimble, Lisa McNair, Charles Ghigna, Debra Ghigna, Robert Inman, Jennifer Horn, Scott Peacock and Michael Martone.
A full schedule of events and registration details can be found at www.MonroevilleLiteraryFestival.com or by calling the museum at 251-575-7433 or emailing info@MonroevilleLiteraryFestival.com.
Find out more about Harjo at www.joyharjo.com.
