Austin Smith (poet)

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Austin Robert Smith (born 1982)[1] is an American poet and fiction writer.[2] Smith is one of three sons of Dan and Cheryl Smith, and he grew up on a farm north of Freeport, Illinois. Smith's father, Dan Smith, also wrote poetry and has been described as a "farmer-poet."[3]

Smith has published two books of poetry, both in the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets,[4] and three poetry chapbooks. His poems have appeared in journals including The New Yorker,[5][6] Poetry,[7] and Virginia Quarterly Review,[8] and his short fiction has appeared in journals including Kenyon Review,[9] Sewanee Review,[10] and ZYZZYVA.[11]

Smith has been awarded a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University, a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts,[12][13] and the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship.[14] He holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, an MA from the University of California, Davis, and an MFA from the University of Virginia.[15]

Smith's poetry deals with themes including rural life, violence, and war. Originally from rural Illinois,[15] the poet often expresses a strong tie to the Midwestern United States. As Smith wrote in 2018, "I feel it's even more important than ever to write of this region, to identify the trends that have led to the decline of small towns and small family farms, and to celebrate the people and the land so that no reader of mine will ever think of the Midwest as flyover country again."[13]

Smith's works have been reviewed in publications including the New York Times,[16] Publishers Weekly,[17][18] the Washington Post,[19] WBUR's Here and Now,[20] and Yale Review.[21]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Smith, Austin (2018). Flyover Country: Poems. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691181561.
  • Smith, Austin (2013). Almanac: Poems. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691159188.
  • Smith, Austin (2013). Instructions for How to Put an Old Horse Down. Brattleboro, VT: Longhouse Press. OCLC 692016564.
  • Smith, Austin (2009). Midwestern Death Poems. Brattleboro, VT: Longhouse Press. OCLC 944523036.
  • Smith, Austin (2008). In the Silence of the Migrated Birds. Madison, WI: Parallel Press. ISBN 9781893311985.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Catalog, Poetry Series, 2008, 'In the Silence of the Migrated Birds'". Parallel Press. University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Austin Smith". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  3. ^ Redmore, Carol (2 Sep 2015). "Austin Smith's Short Story Provides a Poetic Taste of Home". The Journal-Standard. Freeport, IL. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets". Princeton University Press. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  5. ^ Smith, Austin (17 September 2012). "The Hotel". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  6. ^ Smith, Austin (23 November 2015). "Chekhov". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  7. ^ Smith, Austin (March 2015). "Factory Town". Poetry. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  8. ^ Smith, Austin (17 June 2015). "The Tombstone of the Moon". Virginia Quarterly Review. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  9. ^ Smith, Austin (Fall 2013). "Cicadas". Kenyon Review. 35 (4): 32–53.
  10. ^ Smith, Austin (2018). "King Me". Sewanee Review. 126 (2): 215–226. doi:10.1353/sew.2018.0023. S2CID 201737656.
  11. ^ Smith, Austin (Winter 2015). "The Cave". Zyzzyva (105).
  12. ^ Shashkevich, Alex (11 December 2017). "Stanford Lecturer Earns Fellowship from National Endowment for the Arts". Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  13. ^ a b Smith, Austin. "Meet the Creative Writing Fellows: Austin Smith, 2018 Prose". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  14. ^ Lowell, William A. (3 March 2020). "Announcement of 2020-2021 Scholar" (PDF). Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Bio". Austin Robert Smith. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  16. ^ Burt, Stephanie (14 Dec 2018). "In Recent Poetry Collections, Weapons Made of Words". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  17. ^ "'Almanac' by Austin Smith". Publishers Weekly. 260 (25): 106. 24 Jun 2013.
  18. ^ "'Almanac' by Austin Smith". Publishers Weekly. 260 (29): 43. 22 Jul 2013.
  19. ^ Lund, Elizabeth (9 Nov 2018). "Five New Books of Poetry Explore the American Experience, for Better or Worse". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  20. ^ Hobson, Jeremy (1 Nov 2018). "Poet Tackles Drone Violence and Midwest Stereotypes in 'Flyover Country'". Here & Now. WBUR. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  21. ^ Burt, Stephanie (July 2014). "Poetry in Review". Yale Review. 102 (3): 152–166. doi:10.1353/tyr.2014.0101.

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