Tracy K. Smith

Date of Birth: April 16, 1972

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Biography

Tracy K. Smith is an acclaimed American poet and educator, renowned for her profound and thought-provoking works that explore themes of identity, race, and history. Born on April 16, 1972, in Falmouth, Massachusetts, Smith grew up in Northern California. She attended Harvard University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and American Literature and Afro-American Studies. Smith later obtained her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University. Smith’s literary career took off with the publication of her debut collection, “The Body’s Question,” in 2003, which won the Cave Canem Prize for the best first book by an African American poet. Her subsequent collections, “Duende” (2007) and “Life on Mars” (2011), garnered significant acclaim, with “Life on Mars” winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2012. This collection, deeply influenced by her father’s work on the Hubble Space Telescope, reflects on themes of space, science, and the human condition. From 2017 to 2019, Smith served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States, using her platform to promote poetry nationwide and to engage with diverse communities. Her work extends beyond poetry, as she has also published a memoir, “Ordinary Light” (2015), which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Smith currently teaches creative writing at Princeton University, where she continues to inspire and mentor the next generation of poets.

5 Interesting Facts about Tracy K. Smith

1. Tracy K. Smith’s collection “Life on Mars” won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2012.

2. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019.

3. Her father worked as an engineer on the Hubble Space Telescope, which inspired much of her work in “Life on Mars.”

4. Smith’s memoir “Ordinary Light” was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2015.

5. She is a professor of creative writing at Princeton University.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Tracy K. Smith

1. “Poetry is a way of living…a human activity like baking bread or playing basketball.”

2. “We are all of us, in our way, seeking to forge connections in what is, for the most part, a beautiful, awful, and often alienating world.”

3. “History is inclusive, and poetry can remind us of that.”

4. “I like to think of poems as living things.”

5. “The act of writing is an act of faith. It’s an act of hope that somehow, through language, the things we can never fully grasp can be brought closer.”