Larry R. Smith is a poet, fiction writer, literary biographer, translator, essayist and reviewer.

Background

Smith was born in

Mingo Junction, Ohio Mingo Junction is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 3,347 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolita ...

in 1943 and graduated from

Mingo High School Indian Creek High School is a public high school in Wintersville, Ohio. It is the only secondary school in the Indian Creek Local School District. Athletic teams compete as the Indian Creek Redskins in the Ohio High School Athletic Association as ...

in 1961,

Muskingum College Muskingum University is a private university in New Concord, Ohio, United States. Chartered in 1837 as Muskingum College, the institution is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). New Concord is located in far eastern Muskingum County ...

in 1965, then on to

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

in Ohio for a masters and doctorate in American and Contemporary World Literature. His thesis work was on

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

and dissertation on

Kenneth Patchen Kenneth Patchen (December 13, 1911January 8, 1972) was an American poet and novelist. He experimented with different forms of writing and incorporated painting, drawing, and jazz music into his works, which have been compared with those of Will ...

, fellow Ohio writers. He has taught at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

's Firelands College since 1970. The author has received an

Ohio Arts Council The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio. Its offices are in the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus, Ohio. History Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and as ...

Writing Fellowship and an Ohioana Citation for his contribution to poetry in Ohio. He also has received a

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

summer grant and a Fulbright Teaching Lectureship to Italy. Smith is married to Ann Smith also of Mingo Junction, a professor of nursing at the Medical College of Ohio. Together with her and others they founded Converging Paths Meditation Center in Sandusky, Ohio. Smith is the director of The Firelands Writing Center and of Bottom Dog Press.

Books

*''Lake Winds: Poems''. Bottom Dog Press 2014 *''Each Moment All''. March Street Press/ Bottom Dog Press 2012 *''The Free Farm: A Novel''. Bottom Dog Press 2012 *''Mingo Junction''. Arcadia Publishing 2011 *''Tu Fu Comes to America: A Story in Poems''. March Street Press 2010 *''The Long River Home: A Novel''. Working Lives Series, Bottom Dog Press 2009 *''The Kanshi Poems of Taigu Ryokan'', trans. by Larry Smith and Mei Hui Liu Huang. Bottom Dog Press 2008. *''Faces and Voices: Tales''. Bird Dog Publishing 2006. *''A River Remains: Poems''. WordTech Publishing 2006. *''Milldust & Roses: Memoirs''. Ridgeway Press 2005; second edition Bottom Dog Press 2005. *''Thoreau's Lost Journal: Poems'' by Larry Smith. Westron Press, 2001. *''Kenneth Patchen: Rebel Poet in America''. A Consortium of Small Presses, 2000/ Rev. 2012. Biography. *''Chinese Zen Poems: What Hold Has This Mountain?'' trans. Bottom Dog Press, 1998. *''Working It Out'' (novel) Ridgeway Press, 1998. *''Beyond Rust: Novella and Stories''. Bottom Dog Press, 1995. *''Steel Valley: Postcards and Letters'' (Poems). Pig Iron Press, 1992. *''Ohio Zen Poems'' with D. Steven Conkle (A Twinbook) Bottom Dog Press, 1989. *''Across These States'' (Journal Poem) Bottom Dog Press, 1985. *''Scissors, Paper, Rock'' (Prose Poems) Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1982. *''Echo Without Sound'' (Poems with Etchings by Stephen Smigocki) Northwoods Press, 1982. *''Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Poet-at-Large'' (

Literary biography When studying literature, biography and its relationship to literature is often a subject of literary criticism, and is treated in several different forms. Two scholarly approaches use biography or biographical approaches to the past as a tool for ...

) Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. *''Kenneth Patchen'' (Literary biography) Twayne Series, G.K.Hall Publishers, 1978

Films

Two docu-drama video programs, written, co-directed and co-produced with Tom Koba; funded through Ohio Humanities Council and Ohio Arts Council: *''James Wright's Ohio'' (30 minutes, 1986–1987) *''Kenneth Patchen: An Art of Engagement'' (30 and 45 minutes, 1987–1988) *DVD double program: ''d.a.levy: Cleveland Rebel Poet of the Mimeograph Revolution'' (Interview with Ed Sanders/ Memorial Reading at levyfest 2005).

External links

Larry Smith, homepagePoets and Writers' DirectoryOhio Arts Council Directory of AuthorsReview page
''New York Journal of Books''.
Bottom Dog Press Ohio Arts Council Directory with Resume of WriterRed Room for Authors Larry Smith
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Larry R. Writers from Ohio People from Mingo Junction, Ohio Living people 1943 births Kent State University alumni