Why Tracy K. Smith Spent Her Two Years As Poet Laureate Traveling America

“She felt poetry might be able to help mend some of the divisions that the election had highlighted. Her plan was this: to put together a collection of poems from living poets, called American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time, that she felt were in some way relevant to our moment, and to hit the road — visiting community centers, senior centers, prisons, and colleges.” (audio) – The New Yorker Radio Hour