Poet laureate hopes to use tenure to promote love and understanding

Poetry is the language of the soul, and America’s soul has a new spokesperson in Tracy K. Smith. 

The Princeton professor was named the 22nd U.S. poet laureate last week, and hopes to use her year-long tenure to promote love and understanding at a particularly divisive time in America. 

NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller spoke with Smith, and she started off the conversation by reading her poem “Beatific,” from her collection “Wade in the Water,” set to be published next year.

Listen to the conversation below.