Tracy K. Smith Is on a Mission
Posted on May 21, 2018
by Jan C
In 1936, the philanthropist, Archer M. Huntington, provided an endowment for the “maintenance of a chair of Poetry of the English language in the Library of Congress.” When Archibald MacLeish became Librarian of Congress in 1939, he made the position rotating. Beginning in 1959, Poet Laureates have typically served a second one-year term.
On March 22, 2018, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden reappointed Tracy K. Smith to her second term as the Library’s Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. She is the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor in the Humanities, and Director of the Creative Writing Program, at Princeton University and the author of 4 books of poetry and a memoir.
During her first term, Smith focused on outreach programs to rural areas and places where poets rarely present their work. She plans to continue engaging people in rural communities across the United States.
Learn More About Tracy K. Smith
Tracy K. Smith, Current Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith: Online Resources
Tracy K. Smith, America’s Poet Laureate, Is A Woman With A Mission
Books by Tracy K. Smith: The 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States
 “Duende: poems” by Tracy K. SmithAlso available in eAudio. “Duende,” that dark and elusive force described by Federico García Lorca, is the creative and ecstatic power an artist seeks to channel from within. It can lead the artist toward revelation, but it must also, Lorca says, accept and even serenade the possibility of death. Tracy K. Smith’s bold second poetry collection explores history and the intersections of folk traditions, political resistance, and personal survival. “Duende” gives passionate testament to suppressed cultures, and allows them to sing. |
 “Life on Mars” by Tracy K. SmithAlso available in eAudio. With allusions to David Bowie and interplanetary travel, Life on Mars imagines a soundtrack for the universe to accompany the discoveries, failures, and oddities of human existence. In these brilliant new poems, Tracy K. Smith envisions a sci-fi future sucked clean of any real dangers, contemplates the dark matter that keeps people both close and distant, and revisits the kitschy concepts like “love” and “illness” now relegated to the Museum of Obsolescence. These poems reveal the realities of life lived here, on the ground, where a daughter is imprisoned in the basement by her own father, where celebrities and pop stars walk among us, and where the poet herself loses her father, one of the engineers who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope. With this remarkable third collection, Smith establishes herself among the best poets of her generation. Since it’s publication in 2011, “Life on Mars” has received much deserved critical praise, won numerous awards and has appeared on quite a few notable book lists: Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize One of the 100 Notable Books of 2011 – “New York Times Sunday Book Review“ Editor’s Choice List for 2011 – “New York Times Sunday Book Review“ One of the Reviewer’s Favorites from 2011 – “The New Yorker“ One of the Best Poetry Books of 2011 – “Library Journal” and “Publishers Weekly“ |
 “Ordinary Light: A Memoir” by Tracy K.SmithAlso available in eBook. An acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning poet explores coming-of-age and the meaning of home against a complex backdrop of race, faith and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter. |
 “Wade in the Water: Poems” by Tracy K. SmithAlso available in eAudio. A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, using her signature voice—inquisitive, lyrical and wry—mulls over what it means to be a citizen, a mother and an artist in a culture arbitrated by wealth, men and violence, boldly tying America’s modern moment both to our nation’s fraught founding history and to a sense of the spirit, the everlasting. |
Learn More About Past Poet Laureates
Juan Felipe Herrera
U.S. Poet Laureate, 2015-2017
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“The Roots of a Thousand Embraces : Dialogues” by Juan Felipe HerreraIn 40 cantos, the poet embarks on a journey of discovery into the metaphysical meaning of Frida Kahlo’s artistic life. |
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“Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems” by Juan Felipe HerreraWinner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the International Latino Book Award, this amazing collection of poetry provides a small glimpse into the genius of a truly talented author and activist. |
Charles Wright
U.S. Poet Laureate, 2014-2015
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“Caribou” by Charles WrightA collection by the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award and other prestigious accolades meditates on life and nature while exploring the author’s restless pursuit of a divine reality. |
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“Black Zodiac” by Charles WrightA well-known anthology of poetry, which also won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The poems in this collection lyrically comtemplate the themes of faith, religion, heritage and morality. |
Natasha Trethewey
U.S. Poet Laureate, 2012-2014
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“Thrall: poems” by Natasha TretheweyCollects the author’s poems as she reflects on her own interracial ancestry, her estrangement from her father, and their place in the history of race in America. |
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“Domestic Work : Poems” by Natasha TretheweyA widely celebrated collection of poems selected by Rita Dove, former U.S. Poet Laureate, for the 1999 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Trethewey draws moving domestic portraits of families, past and present, caught in the act of earning a living and managing their households. |
Philip Levine
U.S. Poet Laureate, 2011-2012
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“My Lost Poets” by Philip LevineThe Pulitzer Prize-winning poet describes his journey to understand himself and his art form and describes the events, memorable teachers and lifelong friends who influenced him as well as the other poets he admires, including William Carlos Williams, John Keats and William Wordsworth. |
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“The Last Shift” by Philip LevineThe final book of poems from the National Book Award awardee and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who died in early 2015 includes his lyrical takes on his family and childhood, the power of dreaming and poems about his heroes. |
W.S. Merwin
U.S. Poet Laureate, 2010-2011
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“Garden Time” by W.S.MerwinShares poems from the author about longing, loss, and the unanswerable questions of the world. |
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“The Lice” by W.S. MerwinAccording to the Poetry Foundation, this collection is one of Merwin’s most critically acclaimed and influential works of poetry. When first published in 1967, W.S. Merwin’s “The Lice” was ground-breaking. Its visionary urgency directly engaged the nexus of aesthetics and morality, exerting an immediate and lasting effect on the writing and reading of poetry. Like all great art, this monumental work continues to inspire. |
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