US poet laureate Tracy K. Smith to serve second term

NEW YORK – U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith will serve a second term.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced Thursday that Smith has been reappointed for 2018-2019.

The library said that Smith would continue her focus on bringing poetry to rural communities.

She has also edited “American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time,” scheduled for publication in September by Graywolf Press, in co-ordination with the library. The anthology includes contributions by former poets laureate Natasha Trethewey and Charles Wright and will be used by Smith for her visits around the country.

Smith said in a statement that she valued poetry as a way to expose people to different voices and perspectives. She has published four books of poetry and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for “Life on Mars.”