Duende: Poems

“Pulitzer Prize winner and Poet Laureate of the United States Tracy K. Smith has a voice that is almost as beautiful as the imagery in this second collection of her work. She uses her voice well to clarify the structure of each poem and avoid the tics (such as that rising lilt at the end of each line) that make so many poets poor readers of their own work. Her reading is helped, of course, by the outstanding quality of her poetry—which stands at the front of contemporary American literature. If you already know her work, this is a chance to hear her interpret it; if you don’t, this is a chance to discover something wonderful. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” —AudioFile

"These thirty poems are roving, alluding to diverse countries and political situations, often shifting perspectives and locations abruptly between sections. Identity and history are often sources of pain, and Smith adopts various marginalized personas unhinged by displacement…The poet’s lyric brilliance and political impulses never falter under the considerable weight of her subject matter.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)