The memoir "Crazy Brave" by U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo is this year's selection for the 18th annual One Book One Region reading initiative.

The book will be formally introduced at a virtual kickoff at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Sandy Grande, professor of education and director of the Center for Critical Study of Race and Ethnicity, will discuss the themes of "Crazy Brave" at Wednesday's event.

Harjo will appear in southeastern Connecticut in support of One Book One Region at a reading and signing to be determined in the fall. 

A member of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation, Harjo is the first Native American to be named U.S. poet laureate, and "Crazy Brave," which won the National Book Award and the PEN USA Literary Award in Creative Non Fiction, fuses tribal myth, ancestry, poetry and music to capture the author's life and experiences.

Visit onebookoneregion.org to register for the event and learn about other One Book One Region programming and projects.