Sarah Smarsh (born 8 August 1980) is an American journalist and nonfiction writer.

Background

Smarsh was born in rural

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and grew up on farms and in small towns. Her family moved frequently, and she attended eight schools before she reached ninth grade. As a first generation college student, she attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

starting in 1998, and received her MFA in nonfiction writing from

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 ...

. While in fifth grade, Smarsh wrote a story about her family for a class assignment. Her teacher at the time sent the story to a national children's magazine, where it was then published. After the story was published, Smarsh told her family that she would one day publish a full book about them. She has been a fellow at the

Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is a Harvard Kennedy School research center that explores the intersection and impact of media, politics and public policy in theory and practice. Among other activities, the center or ...

. She has written for publications including the ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''.

Published works

Published in 2018, '' Heartland'' is an autobiographical work which focuses on the lives of her family members, white blue-collar residents of the

Midwestern 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 ...

and

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

; the book was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Kirkus Prize and a 2019 recipient of the Kansas Notable Book Award. ''She Come By It Natural'' (2020) is a collection of essays about

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

, provoked by stereotyped coverage of rural people in the context of the 2016 election. The book was a finalist for the nonfiction category of the National Books Critics Circle Award. * ''Bone of the Bone'', 2024.

Other works

In 2019, Smarsh started the podcast ''The Homecomers.'' The podcast spotlights and interviews people from rural and working class communities, similar to the ones that Smarsh herself grew up in, in order to dispel stereotypes about themselves and the places where they live.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smarsh, Sarah 1980 births Living people 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers University of Kansas alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American women journalists American women essayists American women non-fiction writers Journalists from Kansas Writers from Kansas People from Kingman, Kansas