Listen to Tracy K Smith talk about her newest poems at the Tucson Humanities Festival: A writing prompt for you

 

Have you missed an online reading that you really wanted to listen to lately? I discovered that the University of Arizona has an archive here of many more authors reading and discussing their work than I could ever catch up listening to: https://voca.arizona.edu/reading/tracy-k-smith-october-23-2025

So yesterday on a Sunday morning I chose Tracy K Smith (Tucson Humanities Festival, Oct. 23, 2025) talking about her most recent book Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times to listen to as I wrote in my journal. This is one way I find I can loosen up my mind into discovering surprising associations in language. When I go to reading in person, I love to bring my journal and write randomly as I listen. It's rare though that I can find a seat private enough where I feel safe in writing this way. So at home, I make the most of Youtube and other recordings, as well as Zoom readings at all times across the time zones.

I recommend listening with your journal to Tracy K Smith here, beginning at Hill County in the recording (I often skip the long introductions in these presentations). She intersperses her own new poems with excerpts from her prose craft book of essays. It's an interesting way to manage the attention of an audience.

Tracy begins by saying you already have the knowledge to have a fruitful experience with a poem, even if you don't understand it. Ask yourself, What does it call to mind? What does it activate in your body? What do you notice as you read and listen to the poem?

Her newest poems are from a collection she calls as a working title of The Forest. 

More takeaways from her talk: 

• "A poem is a tool for careful listening"
• "Let a poem nudge you. A poem is a blanket of sound covering everything. A poem lets you notice the difference in sound between raindrops hitting the roof and drops hitting the tree branches. Think of a poem as lyric imagination, as a response or a return to a largeness that is in us. A poem is something other than logic."
• "Listen in earnest to another person's testimony when you listen to a poem."

She talks about what a poem's silences and redactions can mean, and how they can expand on the  understanding of a poem. In connection, she talks about how to use erasure and gives an example of an erasure poem she created from the Constitution she titled The Declaration.

A writing prompt for you:

1. A prompt I took away from this talk, and one I give you to try, is to find a document you want to find a new understanding of. Try her approach to the piece, thinking about who do you mean by "we" and what testimony do you want to give voice to?
2. Another prompt I took away built off of her poem about the forest people in one of her new poems. What if we imagine a breakdown of boundary between land and plant with human and society. What could happen?

Write a new poem this week after and maybe while you listen to her reading. Find another recording on this website that you enjoy, and listen closely to that, with your journal open in front of you. Share your thoughts with a friend. 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to 2026: Tangled Roots Open Mic, new workshops, and opportunities for Teens in Truckee

 

Thank you for being a part of the Tangled Roots Writing community. I truly appreciate you and how you pay attention to your creative process. I feel joy in being a part of that creative work. I find a sense of fulfillment in the community we make together.

My newest venture as Poet Laureate of Nevada County is hosting the Tangled Roots Open Mic at Alibi in Truckee every second Thursday of the month from 6 - 7:30 pm. I'm so excited to be able to offer a venue that welcomes all ages for poets and writers to share their poetry and prose on stage with a supportive audience. Read your work out loud, perform your words for others, speak your voice, and make a difference. Join us Thursday, December 11^th!

This year I facilitated five sessions of the Monday Night Creative Writing Workshop 6 week series. Every Monday night I create a new workshop for us to explore craft and generate new material. Because this workshop is all about you, the prompts lead to any genre and support whatever writing project you may be in the middle of developing. Now is the time to sign up for the next series in 2026 beginning Feb 2.

This Fall a group of dedicated writers completed a three-part workshop series on Submission Strategies for poetry, short story, fiction and creative non-fiction. It was a blast meeting every two weeks to talk through organizing systems and preparing manuscripts and researching just the right venues for submitting our work. The best part is that through this community, writers are sending work out for publication who have never sent their work out into the world before. Because this business side of being an artist is the kind of work artists prefer to avoid, I'll be offering this Submissions Strategies workshop series again this Spring to help you stay accountable and productive.

Some of you may not know that I also offer a free monthly Creative Writing Workshop at the Truckee Library called Moments for Memoirs on Friday mornings from 10:30-noon. This workshop is open to all ages and all levels of experience. And the group is so welcoming - join us! Our next workshop at the Library is December 12^th.

As Poet Laureate of Nevada County, I've been busy reaching out to the community, and specifically Teens in Truckee. The Poetry and Prose Writing Club at Truckee High is representing at the Alibi open mic! We also meet once a month on a Sunday afternoon at the Lift for a writing workshop. This free workshop is open to all Teens in Truckee, so if you’re interested, reach out!

This winter I’m gathering a circle of writers that are ready for feedback in a guided monthly workshop. We’ll share and receive feedback in a small group on fiction and non-fiction, with the goal of revising the stories, essays or book-length projects for publication. Are you ready to take the next step in developing your book project or your collection of essays? Reach out and let’s talk.

As always I’m available for one-on-one editing and manuscript review projects.

I hope to see you out and about in our literary community!