2026 Pluralism Lecture: Poetry and Spirituality

A portrait of a woman with long, dark hair and red lipstick, wearing a vibrant red satin blouse and long, multi-colored beaded earrings. Her hands, which feature intricate black tattoos, are clasped together in front of her. She is standing indoors against a backdrop of a rustic red-brick wall and a bright window.

Former United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo will give a poetry reading and hold a public conversation at Duke Chapel. The event is the Chapel's 2026 Pluralism Lecture and part of the Provost's Initiative on Pluralism, Free Inquiry, and Belonging.

A free ticket is required to attend the event. Duke students can register for tickets beginning February 3; general registration for the public begins February 5. Registration for tickets will be available through the Duke Box Office at https://tickets.duke.edu/Online/article/harjo .

Harjo was the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold the position and only the sec¬ond poet to be appointed to a third term. A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, she is the author of ten books of poetry, several plays and children's books, and three memoirs.

Harjo is the recipient of numerous awards. Her honors include Yale's 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, National Book Critics Circle's Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ruth Lily Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the PEN USA Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Tulsa Artist Fellowship. She is a former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets as well as former Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and is the inaugural artist-in-residence for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she lives.

In addition to her writing, Harjo is a musician who plays saxophone and flute. She has produced seven award-winning music albums, including her newest, I Pray for My Enemies. Her album of traditional flute, Red Dreams, A Trail Beyond Tears and Winding Through the Milky Way, won a Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Best Female Artist of the Year in 2009.

Duke Chapel's Pluralism Lecture was launched last year to further Duke University's aim of "foster[ing] a lively relationship between knowledge and faith" as well as its commitment "to creating a rigorous scholarly community characterized by generous hospitality toward diverse religious and cultural traditions."

The Provost's Initiative on Pluralism, Free Inquiry, and Belonging creates new opportunities for student, faculty, and staff learning across the university, including programs to help students conduct constructive conversations across diverse perspectives and faculty to support student skill development.