Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, memoirist, translator, opera librettist and the author of seven acclaimed books. In 2017, she was appointed to her first of two terms as 22nd United States Poet Laureate by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, during which time she spearheaded the American Public Media podcast "The Slowdown," and launched the national project "American Conversations: Celebrating Poetry in Rural Communities." Smith is a professor of English and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.