Portside

Here is a fine tribute to di Prima, who died October 25. She was 86 years old. She was an outstanding figure in mid-to-late 20th Century rebel culture in the United States and was one of that culture's most important poets.

This week the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, named Tracy K. Smith as the U.S. Poet Laureate for 2017-2018. Smith is the fifth African American poet and the fourth black woman to hold the honor. She is the author of three books of poems, the most recent of which, Life on Mars, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012. A link to the Library of Congress citation, and a review, from 2012, of Life on Mars, are posed below.