U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith ’94 to receive Harvard Arts Medal
U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith ’94 will be awarded the 2019 Harvard Arts Medal by Harvard President Larry Bacow in a May 2 ceremony. The award, presented by the Office for the Arts (OFA) and the University Board of Overseers, will include a conversation with Smith moderated by Jorie Graham, Boylston Professor of Oratory and Rhetoric at Harvard. Actor John Lithgow ’67, Ar.D. ’05, will host the afternoon presentation, which serves as the opening event for the annual spring Arts First festival to be held this year May 2‒5. “I am so pleased that the first Arts Medal I bestow as president will recognize the tremendous talents of Tracy Smith,” said Bacow. “When she was named U.S. poet laureate, she spoke about the potential of poetry not only to cross divides, but also to mend them. The world needs that kind of wisdom, and hers is a powerful voice for the...