New U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith Coming to Sensoria 2018
Tracy K. Smith, a Pulitzer winner and newly announced U.S. Poet Laureate, has been confirmed for the guest list for the upcoming Sensoria Festival. The festival runs April 6-15 at at Central Piedmont Community College in April 2018. Smith will serve as next year's Irene Blair Honeycutt Distinguished Lecturer, a role filled by author George Saunders during the 2017 festival. She will speak during an evening event April 11 and a morning event on April 12, and she'll lead a master class with CPCC students.
Smith won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2012 for the collection Life on Mars. She was also on the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction shortlist for Ordinary Light and received several other national awards and fellowships for her writing.
CPCC started a spring literary festival in 1993. Over the past few decades, Sensoria evolved into both a literature and arts event. Smith’s appearance follows a string of high-profile guests at the annual festival, from acclaimed author and MacArthur “genius” Saunders to the world-famous Paul Taylor Dance Company. We'll update with more guest announcements for the 10-day festival as they're confirmed.
See our past coverage: an interview with Saunders, students' reactions to the festival, and more.
