The Winter 2004-2005 issue of Ploughshares, guest-edited by Joy Harjo. Ploughshares, a journal of new writing, is guest-edited serially by prominent writers who explore different personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles.

Guest-edited by Joy Harjo, the Winter 2004-2005 issue of Ploughshares contains poems and stories from notable authors such as Sandra Cisneros, Martin Espada, and Donald Hall. In the Introduction to the issue, Harjo says, "Maybe the ultimate purpose of literature is to humble us to our knees, to that know-nothing place. Maybe we here on this planet are a story gone awry, with the Great Storyteller frantically trying out different endings. Whatever the outcome, we need new songs, new stories, to accompany us wherever we are, wherever we go."