Voices of the Nation

In this three-part series, a panel of faculty poets, scholars, and Cal Lutheran honors students explore the content and context of the work of three U.S. Poets Laureate.

Since 1937, the librarian of Congress has appointed a U.S. poet laureate to present readings and lectures and engage in national community-oriented poetry projects.

The Voices of the Nation series focused on how poets and poetry examine America past and present, illuminating beauty, variety, power and prejudice.

Exploring the work of Tracy K. Smith

The first webinar explores the work of Tracy K. Smith, U.S. Poet Laureate 2017-2019. She has written four books of poetry, earning the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, Cave Canem prize for best first book by an African American poet, the James Laughlin Award and Essence Literary Award. The panelists include Cal Lutheran communication professor Russell Stockard and adjunct English faculty member Sheena Mason. Jacqueline Lyons, associate professor of English and creative writing, is the series host.

Tracy K. Smith - links to interviews, readings and writings

Bibliography

Poetry
Wade in the Water (Graywolf Press, 2018)
Life on Mars (Graywolf Press, 2011)
Duende (Graywolf Press, 2007)
The Body's Question (Graywolf Press, 2003)

Prose
Ordinary Light: A Memoir (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015)

Juan Felipe Herrera reads from his new work

The second webinar explores the work of Juan Felipe Herrera, U.S. Poet Laureate 2015-2017. Herrera is the first Chicano poet to serve as U.S. Laureate and will read from his new collection of poetry, “Every Day We Get More Illegal” during the discussion of his work. He received the National Book Critics Circle Award, PEN/Beyond Margins Award and Americas Award. He also has written several prose books for children and is a performance artist and activist.

Juan Felipe Herrera-links to interviews, readings and writings

Selected Interviews:

Additonal Articles:

First Mexican American U.S. poet laureate (Washington Post)

Selected Bibliography:

Poetry

Every Day We Get More Illegal (City Lights, 2020)
Notes on the Assemblage (City Lights, 2015)
Senegal Taxi (University of Arizona Press, 2013)
Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems (University of Arizona Press, 2008)
187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross The Border, Undocuments 1971-2007 (City Lights, 2007)
Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler (University of Arizona Press, 2002)
Giraffe on Fire: Poems (2001)
Thunderweavers (University of Arizona Press, 2000)
Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream (University of Arizona Press, 1999)
CrashBoomLove: A Novel in Verse (University of New Mexico Press, 1999)
Loteria Cards & Fortune Poems (City Lights, 1999)
Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of America (Temple University Press, 1997)
Love After the Riots (Curbstone, 1996)
Night Train to Tuxtla: New Stories and Poems (University of Arizona Press, 1994)
Memoria(s) from an Exile's Notebook of the Future (Santa Monica College, 1993)
Akrílica (Alcatraz Editions, 1989)
Facegames (Dragon Cloud, 1987)
Exiles of Desire (Arte Publico, 1985)
Poetry Rebozos of Love (Tolteca, 1974)

Children’s Literature

Lejos / Far (Candlewick, 2019)
Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes (Dial Books, 2014)
SkateFate (Rayo, 2011)
Cinnamon Girl: Letters Found Inside a Cereal Box (Harper Collins, Joanna Cotler Books / Tempest, 2005)
Downtown Boy (Scholastic, 2005)
Cilantro Girl / La Superniña del Cilantro (Children's Book Press, 2003)
Grandma & Me at the Flea / Los Meros Meros Remateros (Children’s Book Press 2002)
The Upside Down Boy/El Nino de Cabeza (Lee & Low Books, 2000)
Calling the Doves / Canto a Las Palomas (Children's Book Press, 1995)

Exploring the work of Joy Harjo

The third webinar focuses on the work of Joy Harjo, current U.S. Poet Laureate, 2019-2021. Harjo is the first Indigenous poet to serve as U.S. Laureate. She received the Ruth Lilly Prize from the Poetry Foundation for Lifetime Achievement, the 2015 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets and a Guggenheim Fellowship. The panelist is Kimberly Wieser, PhD, associate professor of English at the University of Oklahoma.

Joy Harjo - links to interviews, readings and writings

More Information

If you have questions about the series please email Jacqueline Lyons at jlyons@CalLutheran.edu.

CalHum logo This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org.