Discuss “Patricia Smith: An American poet”

She runs in and sneaks to her seat against a wall in the “front” of the recently rearranged Maggie Murph Cafe as if hoping to be unnoticed, possibly as an attendee of her own reading. However, Patricia Smith — a four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam — is unlikely to remain hidden in any room for long.

She takes the podium, starting slowly. She introduces the first poem she will read to her packed corner of Hunt Library. It’s the poem she always reads first, inspired by Nicole, a sixthgrade student who wanted to be taught poetry so she could write about her mother, who died only a week before. And as the reading begins, she erupts into a different person.

As the glasses come off, she becomes the characters in...