Dinitia Smith (born December 26, 1945) is an American author and filmmaker.

Early life

Smith was born in

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,075. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and comm ...

, and raised primarily in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, where her father was a journalist. She came to the United States in 1959, and lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and Westchester. After graduating from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, she worked as a reporter for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

in New York. She enrolled in the New York University Film School, and in 1971 obtained a Masters of Fine Arts.

Career

In 1971, she wrote and directed her first film, ''Passing Quietly Through'', under her then-married name McCarthy. That film was one of the first films by a woman to be chosen for the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

. Smith continued to make documentaries, including some with American documentary filmmaker, David Grubin, and also wrote several screenplays. Her films have been shown at the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. In 1975, Smith won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for a film she made for WNBC–TV. She published her first novel, ''The Hard Rain'', in 1980. Her second novel, ''Remember This'', won her fellowships from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

and the Ingram Merrill Foundation. Her short fiction has been published in numerous literary journals. Smith was also a contributing editor at ''New York'' magazine; from 1995 to 2006 she worked for ''The New York Times'', where she wrote about arts and intellectual trends and ideas. Her third novel, ''The Illusionist'', published in 1997, was a ''New York Times'' Notable Book of the Year. ''The Honeymoon'', her biographical novel about the 19th century writer

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

, was published in 2016. ''The New York Times'' wrote that "Smith's enchanting account humanizes a figure renowned as much for her refutation of conventional female stereotypes and social limitations as for her genius for story and language". A reviewer for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' called the book "the perfect example of when fictional storytelling about an eminent person is warranted". Smith's fifth novel, ''The Prince'', (

Arcade Publishing Arcade Publishing is an Imprint (trade name), imprint of the American book publisher Skyhorse Publishing, Skyhorse. Founded in 1988 by Richard Seaver and his wife Jeannette, it was originally an independent company publishing trade fiction and no ...

, 2022) is a contemporary retelling of

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

's ''

The Golden Bowl ''The Golden Bowl'' is a 1904 novel by Henry James. Set in England, this complex, intense study of marriage and adultery completes what some critics have called the "major phase" of James's career. ''The Golden Bowl'' explores the tangle of in ...

.'' NPR called ''The Prince'' "a winner …a compelling story of sexual obsession and the expectations and tolerances of society.” Novelist

Lee Child James Dover Grant (born 29 October 1954), primarily known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British author who writes Thriller (genre), thriller novels, and is best known for his ''Jack Reacher (book series), Jack Reacher'' novel series. The boo ...

wrote ''The Prince'' is “Beautiful, elegant and delicate.” The National Book Review called the novel "deliciously satisfying." Smith has taught at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and the

Bread Loaf Writers' Conference The Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is an author's conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1926, it has been called by ''The New Yorker'' "the oldest and most ...

Personal life

Smith has been married to historian and author

David Nasaw David Nasaw (born July 18, 1945) is an American author, biographer and historian who specializes in the cultural, social and business history of early 20th Century America. Nasaw is on the faculty of the Graduate Center of the City University of ...

since 1978. It is a second marriage for both. They have two sons.

Bibliography

*''The Hard Rain'', Dial Press (1980) *''Remember This'', Henry Holt & Co (1989) *''The Illusionist'', Scribner (1997) *''The Honeymoon'', Other Press (2016) *''The Prince'',

(March 2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Dinitia 1945 births Living people American women writers Smith College alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni People from Cumberland, Maryland