On June 14, 2017, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the appointment of Tracy K. Smith as the 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. On making the appointment, Dr. Hayden said:

It gives me great pleasure to appoint Tracy K. Smith, a poet of searching. Her work travels the world and takes on its voices; brings history and memory to life; calls on the power of literature as well as science, religion, and pop culture. With directness and deftness, she contends with the heavens or plumbs our inner depths—all to better understand what makes us most human.

Smith took up her duties in fall 2017, opening the Library's annual literary season on September 13, 2017, with a reading of her work in the Coolidge Auditorium. Her second term as U.S. Poet Laureate ended on April 15, 2019.

This guide provides an overview of print and online resources related to Tracy K. Smith's life and work. To suggest additions to this guide, please contact the Researcher and Reference Services Division.