This episode, the first in a special three-part series, chronicles Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith’s travels to rural New Mexico in January 2018 as a pilot for her second-year project, “American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities.” Anya Creightney of the Poetry and Literature Center will reflect on the trip, and we’ll hear from a few of the folks our poet laureate met on the road.

For more about this episode, visit the From the Catbird Seat blog. Learn even more about “American Conversations” by visiting the project online.