U.S. Poet Laureate featured in Southeastern's ‘Common Read’ program
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
U.S. POET LAUREATE TO VISIT SOUTHEASTERN – Tracy K. Smith, the Poet Laureate of the United States and author of the book “Life on Mars,” will visit Southeastern Louisiana University March 26 as part of the university’s Common Read program. All events scheduled that day are free and open to the public.
(Photo credit: Rachel Eliza Griffiths)
HAMMOND – The Poet Laureate of the United States and author of the book “Life
on Mars” will visit Southeastern Louisiana University March 26 as part of the university’s
Common Read program.
Tracy K. Smith, the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor in the Humanities and director
of the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University, will meet with students and
the public throughout the day.
Sponsored by the Department of English and the Southeastern Writing Center, Common
Read provides students and community members the opportunity to read selected works
and then meet a contemporary author.
Events that day include student presentations on the author’s work at 9:30 a.m.,
an 11 a.m. question and answer session with the author, and a 6:30 p.m. public reading
by Smith followed by a book signing and reception. Scheduled in Vonnie Borden Theatre,
all events are free and open to the public.
In 2017, Smith was appointed the 22nd United States Poet Laureate. She is the
author of the critically acclaimed memoir “Ordinary Light” and three books of poetry.
Her collection “Life on Mars” won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize and was selected as
a New York Times Notable Book. In 2014 the Academy of American Poets awarded Smith
with the Academy Fellowship, awarded to one poet each year to recognize distinguished
poetic achievement.
“For several years now, we’ve sponsored the Common Read program, featuring a
prominent, contemporary author, and it always serves as an exciting experience for
our students,” said David Hanson, head of the Southeastern English Department. “By
meeting and talking with an author who they’re studying in class, students gain a
rare opportunity to see deeply into an author’s life of writing.”
For more information, contact the Department of English at 985-549-2100.
