Smith honors World Poetry Day

Tracy K. Smith, United States Poet Laureate, speaks with great poise and grace to USD students

Joe Duffy / Asst. A&C Editor / The USD Vista

It was fitting that Tracy K. Smith, the current U.S. Poet Laureate, came to give a reading at USD on World Poetry Day, Thursday, March 21. The celebrated poet drew a large crowd of students, staff, and members of the general public that quickly filled up the seats of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Theatre. 

The reading was part of the Lindsay J. Cropper Memorial Writers Series. Professor Halina Duraj, director of the series, gave a brief introduction before Smith came to the stage to the thunderous applause of a packed theater. 

Smith spoke with great poise and grace, coming off as both thoughtful and approachable. She read her work patiently, allowing her words to linger in the air so that the audience could take in the staggering weight and depth of each line. Nearly all of Smith’s poems were followed by either applause or astonished gasps. As Smith’s readings continued, a chorus of “wows” rang in the audience.

USD senior Kristen Jensen expressed gratitude to Smith for visiting USD, as well as excitement for her having been met with such a strong audience. 

“It was so good, and I was really glad that such a mix of people came out,” Jensen said. “It makes me happy to see so many people interested in poetry.”

In 2017, Smith was appointed the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States, succeeding Juan Felipe Herrera. The Poet Laureate, according to the Library of Congress website, “…seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry.” The position is appointed annually by the Librarian of Congress for a term that stretches from September to May. Former U.S. Poet Laureates have included Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost, and Gwendolyn Brooks. 

Smith holds a B.A. from Harvard University, an M.F.A. from Columbia University, and is the director of Princeton University’s creative writing program. She is the author of four books of poetry—“The Body’s Question” (2003), “Duende” (2007), “Life on Mars” (2011), and, most recently, “Wade in the Water” (2018).

Her work has earned her a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, and the praise of critics and audiences alike. 

“‘Wade in the Water’ is scorching in both its steady cognizance of America’s original racial sins—open wounds that have had insectlike eggs repeatedly laid in them—and apprehension about history’s direction,” a reviewer in the New York Timessaid about Smith’s newest book. 

Many of Smith’s poems were indeed politically and racially oriented, though the subject matter ranged from Smith’s father to a grocery store in New York City to the classic Stanley Kubrick film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” 

One of the highlights of the night was when Smith read some of her found poems, or poems created by reworking or rearranging sections from an existing text. Among these works was “Declaration,” an erasure poem created by redacting parts of the Declaration of Independence.

Some of the poems that Smith read from “Wade in the Water” borrow from letters written by black soldiers enlisted in the Civil War and depositions from the families who sought pensions for these men after the war had ended.

The result is a haunting yet beautiful homage to those soldiers who were lost to history, nameless and faceless, and who continued to endure discrimination despite their wartime efforts. Smith was able to breathe life into these voices from over a century ago, so that their words still resounded through a crowded theater.

The reading was followed by an audience Q&A session. The first question came from an audience member who wondered how Smith had been affected by fame since being appointed Poet Laureate in 2017. In response, Smith recalled something a colleague had told her about the role of the Poet Laureate: “This is not about you, this is about poetry.”

In the course of the session, Smith also discussed her influences—among them Emily Dickinson, Seamus Heaney, and Lucille Clifton—elements of craft, and the role of poetry in today’s world.

“More and more in the 21st century, poetry is a way of staying human in a world where we allow our life, love, and happiness to be transformed by technology in service of products,” Smith said.

The reading was followed by a reception just outside the KIPJ Theatre. Copies of Smith’s books were being sold.

Thomas Dolan, a USD sophomore and current editor-in-chief of “The Alcalá Review,”  USD’s undergraduate literary journal, felt a renewed confidence in the popularity of the arts on USD’s campus after seeing the size of the crowd. 

“It was very exciting to have a poetry event be standing room only,” Dolan said. 

Stephanie Meraz, president of the USD chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, an English honors society, was captivated by the reading and left the theater in awe of Smith’s work. 

“Smith was incredibly insightful and has a very descriptive and succinct way of looking at the world and issues within our society,” Meraz said. “The reading was great and I was captured by all of it.”

The night proved that poetry is still a form capable of reaching a wide audience. The way people applauded Smith’s powerful reading makes it feel safe to say that poetry continues to be alive and well at USD. 

Those interested in learning more about Tracy K. Smith or poetry in general can check out “The Slowdown,” a podcast hosted by Smith that uses poetry to consider the world through different perspectives.