Tracy K. Smith
Monday, November 2, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd., Houston, TX 77005
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The Progressive Forum is pleased to present Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former U.S. Poel Laureate, Tracy K. Smith, to discuss her book, Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times. She will be in conversation with Randall Morton, Progressive Forum executive director. At the end of the evening, she will greet fans and sign books.
About Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times 
Smith explores the extraordinary ways poetry can guide us through moments of uncertainty, fear, and change. Blending memoir, literary criticism, and close readings of beloved poems, she demonstrates how language can foster resilience, compassion, curiosity, and connection. Drawing from her experiences as a poet, teacher, mother, she offers generous ways of seeing ourselves and others, and the importance of art in a complex world.
About Tracy K. Smith
Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer Prize winning poet, memoirist, editor, translator and librettist. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017-19, during which time she spearheaded a series of events called American Conversations: Celebrating Poetry in Rural Communities with the Library of Congress. During her term, she also created the American Public Media podcast The Slowdown and edited the anthology American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time.
Smith is the author of five poetry collections including Life on Mars, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize. Among Smith’s other honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets. She serves on the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets. She is Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard Radcliffe.
Generously sponsored by Poppi Georges-Massey
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Theater doors open at 6:30 p.m. when ticket holders can take their seats.
Door search, no large bags. Please refrain from bringing backpacks and anything larger than a small clutch purse into the event. Large items will be asked to be returned to your vehicle. All items are subject to search at the door.
Program is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd, Houston, TX, 77005, across from Rice University.
Please present your eTicket on your mobile device or print your PDF eTicket and bring it with you to the venue for entry. Your PDF eTicket is emailed from customerservice@ovationtix.com (please check your spam or junk folder). If needed, our box office or ushers can help you get your ticket by providing your last name.
Free parking is available in the Congregation Emanu El campus garage. Enter on Sunset Blvd where uniformed officers will direct you.
Ticketed attendees may pick up a free book at the Blue Willow Bookshop tables. Books are only distributed with a ticket at the event. We are unable to provide books after the event or for no-show tickets.
The speaker will sign books following the program, around 9pm.
Ticket prices are $154, $75, and $49 plus fees.
Private patron reception with the speaker begins at 6:15 p.m. with cash bar and complimentary lite bites, dessert, and coffee buffet for $154 ticket holders and those who have donated $1,000 or more in the past year. Reception located in the Oshman Multi-Purpose Room to the right of the main entrance, if entering from the parking garage. The speaker leaves the reception at 6:45 p.m. after a half-hour. So that everyone in the speaker greeting line has a chance to chat with the speaker, there is no book signing, autographing, or photography with the speaker in the speaker greeting line. In the rest of the reception room, photography and videography are welcome.
Box office services (credit card only) are available at the door on event night. In case of a sellout, there is no waiting list. Prior to event night, there are no tickets sold at Congregation Emanu El or any other physical location.
For box office assistance or for any other issues, please call 832-509-0262 or email boxoffice@progressiveforumhouston.org.
Guests who need special access are eligible for any ticket price. Ushers will seat special access guests in the aisles in the rear nearest restrooms. All rows are close to the speaker podium in the intimate seating environment.
During the lecture program, we will ask the audience to silence their personal digital devices, asking for no photography or videography.
Feel free to contact The Progressive Forum by email at staff@progressiveforumhouston.org.