The Pulitzer Prize–winning poet reveals how poetry is a powerful tool of connection and understanding in a fractured world.
Drawing on deep passion and personal experience, former US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith demystifies the art form that has too often been mischaracterized as “inaccessible, ” “irrelevant, ” or “intimidating.” She argues that poetry is rooted in fundamentally human qualities innate to our capacities to love, dream, question, and engage across diverse cultures and backgrounds. Lifting the veil on her own creative process, Smith shows us how reading and writing poetry allows us to confront life’s many uncertainties and losses, to build camaraderie with strangers, and to understand ourselves. She grounds readers in the technical elements of the craft and provides close readings of the works of contemporary poets such as Joy Harjo, Danez Smith, and Francisco Márquez, alongside classic poems by Dickinson, Keats, Millay, and others. By reimaging and reexamining the age-old art form, Fear Less is a warm invitation to find meaning, consolation, and hope through poetry.
关于作者
Tracy K. Smith is a professor at Harvard University and a Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at Harvard Radcliffe Institute. She served as the 22nd US poet laureate and is the author of five poetry collections, including the Pulitzer Prize winner Life on Mars.