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Internationally renowned poet, performer, and writer Joy Harjo will present the 2026 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture on Thursday, February 26, at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus. A reception begins at 6:15 pm and Harjo’s presentation is at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
This year’s Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture is hosted by the University of Tennessee Libraries, Friends of the Knox County Public Library and the McClung Museum. The lecture is presented in conjunction with the exhibition "Homelands: Connecting to Mounds through Native Art."
A member of the Muscogee Nation, Harjo was the first Native American to serve as Poet Laureate of the United States (2019–2022).
The annual lecture honors the late Wilma Dykeman Stokely (1920–2006), writer, speaker, teacher, historian, environmentalist, and long-time friend of the Knox County Public Library. Her papers are part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Tennessee Libraries. Speakers at the Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture represent a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and work, but all have a deep connection to one or more of Stokely’s passions: Appalachia, the environment, and racial and gender equity.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Drive,Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Tickets
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