Tracy K. Smith Named Harvard Arts Medalist

 The U.S. poet laureate will be honored on May 2. 

Tracy K. Smith

Photograph © Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Tracy K. Smith ’94, poet laureate of the United States, will receive the Harvard Arts Medal during the opening ceremony of Arts First (May 2-5), the University’s annual celebration of student, faculty, and community art-making featuring more than 100 performers. Smith won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for her collection Life on Mars; she is known for her lyrical, meditative poems. Her most recent collection, Wade in the Water (2018), is her most political. Smith’s involvement in the Dark Room Collective, a haven for black poetry in the 1980s and ’90s, was described in this magazine’s March-April 2016 issue

The Arts Medal is awarded each year to a “Harvard or Radcliffe graduate or faculty member who has achieved excellence in the arts and has made a contribution through the arts to education or the public good.” Last year’s recipient was novelist Colson Whitehead ’91

Read more articles by Marina N. Bolotnikova

You might also like

Harvard’s New Playbook for Teaching with AI

Faculty across Harvard are rethinking assignments to integrate AI. 

Three Harvardians win MacArthur Fellowships

A mathematician, a political scientist, and an astrophysicist are honored with “genius” grants for their work.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences Zeroes in on the Classroom Experience

Class schedules and academics are at the top of the agenda for Harvard faculty.

Most popular

What Trump Means for John Roberts's Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Harvard’s Endowment, Donations Rise—but the University Runs a Deficit

The annual financial report signals severe challenges to come.

Harvard Professor Michael Sandel Wins Philosophy’s Berggruen Prize

The creator of the popular ‘Justice’ course receives a $1 million award.

Explore More From Current Issue

Two women in traditional Japanese clothing sitting on a wooden platform near a tranquil pond, surrounded by autumn foliage.

Japan As It Never Will Be Again

Harvard’s Stillman collection showcases glimpses of the Meiji era. 

Aisha Muharrar with shoulder-length hair, wearing a green blazer and white shirt.

Parks and Rec Comedy Writer Aisha Muharrar Gets Serious about Grief

With Loved One, the Harvard grad and Lampoon veteran makes her debut as a novelist.