‘Incendiary’ eloquence

If you’re one of those people who make lists, I have a small problem. In describing the poet Patricia Smith — who headlines Friday in the latest Arts Cafe Mystic presentation — it’s arguably easier to list the awards she hasn’t won or been nominated for than the ones she has.

Maybe it’s best just to say Smith, who writes chiefly about the Black Experience with eloquent outrage, tender sympathy and brutal historical/ culture accuity, is one of the most important poets of our time. Her latest collection, 2017’s “Incendiary Art,” focuses mostly on racism through the prisms of violence, rage and despair, with connective pieces based on real-life events such as the 1955 lynching of teenager Emmett Till in Mississippi.

“Incendiary Art” won the Kingeley Tufts Poetry Award, the Los Angeles Book Award and was shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize (not that I’m keeping a list).

To see Smith read these words in person is a stunning opportunity, and the program is wonderfully rounded out with a set from singer-songwriter Lara Herscovitch and the evening’s Opening Voice poet Norah Pollard. Patricia Smith, Arts Cafe Mystic, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Mystic Museum of Art, 9 Water St., $15, $5 students; (860) 912-2444, theartscafemystic.org.