And poet, musician and writer Joy Harjo has become the first Native American poet laureate. Harjo, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, is the author of eight poetry books, including the celebrated “In Mad Love and War,” which won the American Book Award in 1990, as well as a memoir and stories for children and young adults. Harjo told The New York Times, “Just as when I started writing poetry, we’re at a very crucial time in American history and in planetary history. Poetry is a way to bridge, to make bridges from one country to another, one person to another, one time to another.”