Cody Englander
Staff Writer
Ahead of today’s lecture, author Maggie Smith reflected on the power of creativity each person holds.
“I meet so many people who say, ‘I’m a writer, but not a creative person,’ ” Smith said. “That’s not true. It’s in all of us.”
At 10:45 a.m. today in the Amphitheater, Smith joins Michael I. Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and Inaugural Writer-in-Residence Kwame Alexander to discuss their impact on the world as writers.
Smith steps in for previously announced speaker LeVar Burton, who was unable to travel to Chautauqua at this time. This lecture begins the Chautauqua Lecture Series’ Week Seven theme “Kwame Alexander and Friends: The Power of One,” curated by Alexander.
Smith is a poet and author of seven award-winning books. Her newest poetry collection releases in 2026, titled A Suit or a Suitcase. Her poems have appeared in The New York Times, Tin House, The Believer, The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, The Best American Poetry and on the CBS primetime drama “Madam Secretary.”
In 2019, Smith served as a poet in residence at Chautauqua and led a workshop titled “Crafting Free Verse: Line, Syntax, and Stanza.”
Alexander is a poet, educator, producer and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of 40 books, including The Crossover, Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson) and The Door of No Return. Alexander is also an Emmy-winning writer for “The Crossover” television series, based on his book.
Alexander reflected on how he was originally drawn to Smith’s work.
“I was writing a memoir, going through a separation,” Alexander said. “I found myself interested in reading other memoirs, specifically uncoupling and breakups.”
Smith had written a memoir called You Could Make This Place Beautiful about the disintegration of her marriage, which caught Alexander’s attention.
“I must have read it in a couple hours,” Alexander said. “It’s very lyrical, poetic and extremely innovative.”
Smith reached out to Alexander over Instagram, where the two were mutuals. Smith and Alexander have yet to meet in-person, despite the respect for each other’s work.
“I wanted to involve her in some of the things I was doing,” Alexander said. “I thought that Maggie’s writing, her stories and her kindness, I think folks at Chautauqua will be inspired by her message.”
As an author and poet, Smith believes that words carry power that everyone can use.
“We share a belief that literature and books have the power to change people and the worlds we live in,” said Smith. “We’ll talk about creativity, working across genres and I hope we’ll talk about the creativity we have in all of us.”
Smith hopes that the conversation will be inspiring in terms of the art that she and Alexander have made, while also focusing on the art that is possible from everyone in the space. While Alexander will be focusing on the same outline of conversations for the week, the topics will still certainly vary.
“It’s the same topic every day … but completely different every day,” he said.
Given the wide range of talent that will be on the Amp stage this week, he wants the artists to be able to reflect on their history and legacy.
Alexander hopes the idea of having talent within us all resonates with the audience.
“Once we get to a point where we write a draft of our life, how are we going to spread that?” he asked. “Whether that’s in Chautauqua or in the world, how are you going to lift your voice?”
