Austin Robert Smith (born 1982) is an American poet and fiction writer. Smith is one of three sons of Dan and Cheryl Smith, and he grew up on a farm north of

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the largest city in Stephenson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is k ...

. Smith's father, Dan Smith, also wrote poetry and has been described as a "farmer-poet." Smith has published two books of poetry, both in the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets, and three poetry chapbooks. His poems have appeared in journals including ''The New Yorker'', ''Poetry'', and ''Virginia Quarterly Review'', and his short fiction has appeared in journals including ''Kenyon Review'', ''Sewanee Review'', and ''ZYZZYVA''. Smith has been awarded a

Stegner Fellowship The Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. The award is named after American Wallace Stegner (1909–1993), a historian, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and Stanford faculty m ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, a Creative Writing Fellowship 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 Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. He holds a BA from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, an MA from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, and an MFA from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. Smith's poetry deals with themes including rural life, violence, and war. Originally from rural

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, Smith often expresses a strong tie to the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. 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." Smith's works have been reviewed in publications including the ''New York Times'', ''Publishers Weekly'', the ''Washington Post'', WBUR's ''Here and Now'', and ''Yale Review''.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Smith's personal website

University of Dubuque Archway Reading Series: Austin Smith, 15 November 2019 (YouTube)
American male poets Poets from Illinois Stegner Fellows 21st-century American poets National Endowment for the Arts Fellows University of California, Davis alumni University of Virginia alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 21st-century American male writers 1982 births Living people {{US-poet-1980s-stub