Podcast #169: Tracy K. Smith, New U.S. Poet Laureate
The New York Public Library Podcast features your favorite writers, artists, and thinkers in smart talks and provocative conversations. Listen to some of our most engaging programs, discover new ideas, and celebrate the best of today’s culture.
Last week Tracy K. Smith was named the 22nd U.S. Poet Laureate by the Library of Congress. Last year she came by the Library to talk about her memoir, Ordinary Light, and we're taking the occasion to share that conversation with you today. Smith is the author of three volumes of poetry, one of which, Life on Mars, won her the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. She’s also the director of the creative writing program at Princeton. About her plans for her tenure as laureate, she said, “I’m very excited about the opportunity to take what I consider to be the good news of poetry to parts of the country where literary festivals don’t always go. Poetry is something that’s relevant to everyone’s life, whether they’re habitual readers of poetry or not…Rather than talking about social issues, I want to give more readers access to more kinds of poems and poets. Poems are friendly, and they teach us how to read them.”
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