In this episode, we discuss erasure poetry and its power to reveal hidden histories and redacted stories through Tracy K. Smith's erasure of the Declaration of Independence.
For the poem (including a reading and discussion of the poem by Tracy Smith), see the Poetry Foundation (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147468/declaration-5b5a286052461).
For Solmaz Sharif's discussion of the political implications of erasure poetry, see "The Near Transitive Properties of the Political and Poetical: Erasure": https://thevolta.org/ewc28-ssharif-p1.html
See also "Erasure in Three Acts (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2021/11/erasure)" by Muriel Leung.
For more on Tracy K. Smith, see The Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poets-laureate/item/no2003106238/tracy-k-smith/).
For a look at the various drafts of the Declaration of Independence, visit this page on the Library of Congress website: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffdec.html
Thanks to Graywolf Press for granting us permission to read this poem, which appears in Wade in the Water (https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/wade-water) (2018).
Thanks to Harvard University and photographer Stephanie Mitchell for granting us permission to reproduce Tracy Smith's photo.
