Luminaries: Brooke Kuhnhausen on Joy Harjo’s poem “Remember”

Spring Creek Podcast

Today’s “Luminaries” guest is Brooke Kuhnhausen, a psychologist who deeply values creativity and collaboration as portals of transformation and imagination so vitally needed for new ways of being together and caring for our living Earth. She practices depth and relational therapy in her private practice and also trains and consults with other therapists, teaching in various graduate programs and therapy institutes. She is a climate justice advocate, has been part of a number of eco-feminist collaborations with visual artists, and helps others shore up the resilient inner practices necessary to cope with climate grief and show up meaningfully in climate activist spaces.

During this episode, Brooke reflects on Joy Harjo’s poem “Remember” from the collection “She Had Some Horses.” Brooke explores the depths of Harjo’s words by weaving in her own experience and the words of other writers and thinkers she admires.

Joy Harjo (b. 1951) is a renowned poet, writer and musician from the Muscogee Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. Her many honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship and lifetime achievement awards from National Book Critics Circle and the Poetry Foundation. “She Had Some Horses” was first published in 1983.

“Luminaries” is produced by the Spring Creek Project at Oregon State University. This series invites people to share stories about writing and art that illuminates their environmental thinking or work.