2001 Louisiana Writer Award Recipient

William J. SmithWilliam J. Smith
Poet

Personal Information
Awards
Career
Writings
Source Citation

  • Recipient of National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in 1975 and 1989

  • Received California Children's Book and Video Awards recognition for excellence (preschool and toddlers category), 1990, for Ho for a Hat!

Personal Information

Family: Born April 22, 1918, in Winnfield, LA; son of Jay (with the U.S. Army) and Georgia Ella (Campster) Smith; married Barbara Howes (a poet), October 1, 1947 (divorced June, 1965); married Sonja Haussmann, September 3, 1966; children: (first marriage) David Emerson, Gregory Jay.
Education: Washington University, B.A., 1939, M.A., 1941; attended Institut de Touraine; Universit� de Poitiers, dipl�me d'�tudes fran�aises; graduate study at Columbia University, 1946-47, at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, 1947-48, and at University of Florence, 1948-50.
Politics: Democrat.
Religion: Protestant.
Avocational Interests: Painting and travel.
Memberships: American Academy of Arts and Letters (vice president for literature, 1986-89), Association of American Rhodes Scholars, Authors Guild (member of council), PEN, Authors League of America, Academy of American Poets, Century Association.
Addresses: Home: 63 Luther Shaw Rd., Cummington, MA 01026-9787. Agent: George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc., 65 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012.

Awards

Young Poets Prize, Poetry magazine, 1945; alumni citation, Washington University, 1963; Ford fellowship for drama, 1964; Union League Civic and Arts Foundation prize, Poetry magazine, 1964; Henry Bellamann Major award, 1970; Russell Loines Award, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, 1972; National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, 1972 and 1995; D.Litt., New England College, 1973; National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, 1975 and 1989; Gold Medal of Labor, Hungary, 1978; New England Poetry Club Golden Rose, 1980; Ingram Merrill Foundation grant, 1982; California Children's Book and Video Awards recognition for excellence (preschool and toddlers category), 1990, for Ho for a Hat!; medal (m�daille de vermeil) for service to the French language, French Academy, 1991; Pro Cultura Hungarica medal, 1993; Ren� V�squez D�az prize, Swedish Academy, 1997.

Career

Washington University, St. Louis, MO, assistant in French, 1939-41; Columbia University, New York, NY, instructor in English and French, 1946-47, visiting professor of writing and acting chair of writing division, 1973, 1974-75; Williams College, Williamstown, MA, lecturer in English, 1951, poet-in-residence and lecturer in English, 1956-64, 1966-67; Arena Stage, Washington, DC, writer-in-residence, 1964-65; Hollins University, Hollins, VA, writer-in-residence, 1965-66, professor of English, 1970-80, professor emeritus, 1980--. Lecturer at Salzburg Seminar in American Studies, 1975; Fulbright lecturer, Moscow State University, 1981; poet-in-residence, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1985-88. Has lectured at colleges, clubs, writers' conferences, and book fairs, and has presented television programs on poetry for children. Vermont House of Representatives, Democratic member, 1960-62; Library of Congress, Washington, DC, consultant in poetry, 1968-70, honorary consultant, 1970-76. Staff member, University of Connecticut Writers Conference, 1951; Suffield Writer-Reader Conference, 1959-62; and University of Indiana Writers Conference, 1961. Jury member, National Book Award, 1962, 1970, 1975, Neustadt International Prize for Literature, 1978, and Pegasus Prize for Literature, 1979-2000. Chairman of board of directors, Translation Center, Columbia University. Military service: U.S. Naval Reserve, 1941-45; became lieutenant; awarded commendation by French Admiralty.

Writings by the Author

Poetry

  • Poems, Banyan Press (New York, NY), 1947.

  • Celebration at Dark, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1950.

  • Snow, Schlosser Paper, 1953.

  • The Stork: A Poem Announcing the Safe Arrival of Gregory Smith, Caliban Press, 1954.

  • Typewriter Birds, Caliban Press, 1954.

  • Poems 1947-57, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1957.

  • Two Poems, Mason Hill Press, 1959.

  • (With Richard Wilbur) Prince Souvanna Phouma: An Exchange between Richard Wilbur and William Jay Smith, Chapel Press, 1963.

  • The Tin Can, and Other Poems, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1966, title poem published as The Tin Can, Stone House Press (Roslyn, NY), 1988.

  • New and Selected Poems, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1970.

  • A Rose for Katherine Anne Porter, Albondocani Press (New York, NY), 1970.

  • At Delphi: For Allen Tate on His Seventy-fifth Birthday, 19 November 1974, Chapel Press, 1974.

  • Venice in the Fog, Unicorn Press (Greensboro, NC), 1975.

  • (With Richard Wilbur) Verses on the Times, Gutenberg Press, 1978.

  • Journey to the Dead Sea, illustrated by David Newbert, Abbatoir (Omaha, NE), 1979.

  • The Tall Poets, Palaemon Press, 1979.

  • The Traveler's Tree, New and Selected Poems, illustrated by Jacques Hnizdovsky, Persea Books (New York, NY), 1980.

  • Plain Talk: Epigrams, Epitaphs, Satires, Nonsense, Occasional, Concrete, and Quotidian Poems, Center for Book Arts (New York, NY), 1988.

  • Journey to the Interior, Stone House Press, 1988.

  • Collected Poems, 1939-1989, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1990.           

  • The Cyclist, Stone House Press, 1995.

  • The World below the Window: Poems 1937-1997, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1998.

  • The Cherokee Lottery: A Sequence of Poems, Curbstone Press (Willimantic, CT), 2000.

  • The Girl in Glass: Love Poems, Bootes and Company (New York, NY), 2002.

Also author of privately printed poems, including The Bead Curtain: Calligrams, 1957; The Old Man on the Isthmus, 1957; A Minor Ode to the Morgan Horse, 1963; Morels, 1964; Quail in Autumn, 1965; A Clutch of Clerihews, 1966; Winter Morning, 1967; Imaginary Dialogue, 1968; Hull Boy, St. Thomas, 1970; Song for a Country Wedding, 1976; and Oxford Doggerel, 1983. Author, with Barbara Howes, of privately printed Christmas card poems, including Lachrymae Christi and In the Old Country, 1948; Poems: The Homecoming and The Piazza, 1949; and Two French Poems: The Roses of Saadi and Five-Minute Watercolor, 1950.

Poetry is represented in numerous anthologies and textbooks, including The War Poets, Day, 1945; The New Poets of England and America, Meridian, 1957; Modern Verse in English, 1900-1950, Macmillan, 1958; Poems for Seasons and Celebrations, World Publishing, 1961; Contemporary American Poets: American Poetry since 1940, Meridian, 1969; and Talking like the Rain, Little, Brown, 1992.

Poetry for Children

  • Laughing Time (also see below), illustrated by Juliet Kepes, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1955, revised and enlarged edition published as Laughing Time: Nonsense Poems, illustrated by Fernando Krahn, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1990.

  • Boy Blue's Book of Beasts, illustrated by Juliet Kepes, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1957.

  • Puptents and Pebbles: A Nonsense ABC, illustrated by Juliet Kepes, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1959.

  • (And illustrator) Typewriter Town, Dutton (New York, NY), 1960.

  • What Did I See?, illustrated by Don Almquist, Crowell-Collier (New York, NY), 1962.

  • My Little Book of Big and Little (Little Dimity, Big Gumbo, Big and Little), three volumes, illustrated by Don Bolognese, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1963.

  • Ho for a Hat!, illustrated by Ivan Chermayeff, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1964, revised edition published with illustrations by Lynn Munsinger, Joy Street Books (Boston, MA), 1989.

  • (Compiler, with Louise Bogan) The Golden Journey (anthology), Reilly & Lee, 1965, published with woodcuts by Fritz Kredel, Contemporary Books (Chicago, IL), 1990.

  • If I Had a Boat, illustrated by Don Bolognese, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1966.

  • (Compiler) Poems from France, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, Crowell (New York, NY), 1967.

  • Mr. Smith, and Other Nonsense, illustrated by Don Bolognese, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1968.

  • Around My Room and Other Poems, illustrated by Don Madden, Lancelot (New York, NY), 1969.

  • Grandmother Ostrich and Other Poems, illustrated by Don Madden, Lancelot (New York, NY), 1969.

  • Laughing Time and Other Poems, illustrated by Don Madden, Lancelot (New York, NY), 1969.

  • (Compiler) Poems from Italy, illustrated by Elaine Raphael, Crowell (New York, NY), 1972.

  • The Key, Children's Book Council, 1982.

  • Birds and Beasts, illustrated by Jacques Hnizdovsky, Godine (Boston, MA), 1990.

  • Big and Little, illustrated by Don Bolognese, Wordsong (Honesdale, PA), 1991.

  • (Editor, with Carol Ra) Behind the King's Kitchen, illustrated by Jacques Hnizdovsky, Boyds Mills Press, 1992.

  • (Editor, with Carol Ra) The Sun Is Up: A Child's Year of Poems, Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1996.

  • Here Is My Heart: Love Poems, illustrated by Jane Dyer, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1999.

  • Around My Room, illustrated by Erik Blegvad, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2000.

  • Hey Diddle, a Riddle, Winslow Press (Delray Beach, FL), 2002.

Translator

  • Romualdo Romano, Scirocco, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1951.

  • Valery Larbaud, Poems of a Multimillionaire, Bonacio & Saul/Grove (New York, NY), 1955.

  • (And editor) Selected Writings of Jules Laforgue, Grove (New York, NY), 1956.

  • Elsa Beskow, The Children of the Forest (for children), illustrated by Beskow, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1970.

  • Two Plays by Charles Bertin: Christopher Columbus and Don Juan, Minnesota University Press, 1970.

  • Lennart Hellsing, The Pirate Book (for children), illustrated by Poul Str�yer, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1972.

  • (With Max Hayward) Kornei Chukovsky, The Telephone (for children), illustrated by Blair Lent, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1977.

  • (With Leif Sjoeberg) Artur Lundkvist, Agadir, International Poetry Forum (Pittsburgh, PA), 1979, Ohio State University Press (Athens, OH), 1980.

  • (With Ingvar Schousboe) Thorkild Bjoernvig, The Pact: My Friendship with Isak Dinesen, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1983.

  • (And editor, with James S. Holmes) Dutch Interior: Postwar Poetry of the Netherlands and Flanders, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 1984.

  • Jules Laforgue, Moral Tales, New Directions (New York, NY), 1985.

  • (With Leif Sjoeberg) Henry Martinson, Wild Bouquet: Nature Poems, Bookmark Press, 1985.

  • Collected Translations: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese (poetry), New Rivers Press (St. Paul, MN), 1985.

  • (With Edwin Morgan and others) Sandor Weoeres, Eternal Moment: Selected Poems, New Rivers Press (St. Paul, MN), 1988.

  • (With wife, Sonja Haussmann Smith) Tchicaya U Tam'Si, The Madman and the Medusa, edited by A. James Arnold and Kandioura Drame, University Press of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA), 1989.

  • Jules Laforgue, Berlin: The City and the Court, Turtle Point Books, 1996.

  • (And editor and author of introduction) Gyula Illy�s, What You Have Almost Forgotten: Selected Poems, Curbstone Press (Willimantic, CT), 1999.

Translations by Smith from the Russian, Hungarian, Swedish, and French--particularly of the poems of Jules Laforgue and Andrei Voznesensky--have appeared in periodicals and books.

Other

  • The Spectra Hoax (criticism), Wesleyan University Press (Middletown, CT), 1961, reprinted, Story Line Press (Ashland, OR), 2000.

  • Herrick, Dell (New York, NY), 1962.

  • The Straw Market (comedy), produced at Hollins University, 1965.

  • (With Virginia Haviland) Children and Poetry: A Selective, Annotated Bibliography, Library of Congress (Washington, DC), 1969, revised edition, 1979.

  • The Streaks of the Tulip, Selected Criticism, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1972.

  • (Editor and author of introduction) Light Verse and Satires of Witter Bynner, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1976.

  • (Author of preface) Mikl�s Vajda, editor, Modern Hungarian Poetry, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 1977.

  • Army Brat: A Memoir (also see below), Persea Books (New York, NY), 1980.

  • Army Brat: A Dramatic Narrative for Three Voices (play based upon Smith's memoir), produced in New York City, 1980.

  • (Compiler) A Green Place: Modern Poems, illustrated by Hnizdovsky, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1982.

  • (Editor, with Emanuel Brasil) Brazilian Poetry, Harper (New York, NY), 1984.

  • (Editor and author of introduction) Nina Cassian, Life Sentence: Selected Poems, Norton (New York, NY), 1990.

Contributor of poetry, reviews, translations, essays, and articles to major literary periodicals and national magazines, including Harper's, Poetry, Nation, Harper's Bazaar, New Criterion, New Republic, Horn Book, Evergreen Review, Yale Review, New Yorker, Southern Review, and Sewanee Review. Poetry reviewer, Harper's, 1961-64; editorial consultant, Grove Press, 1968-70; editor, Translation, 1973-90.

A major collection of Smith's manuscripts is housed at Washington University; smaller collections are at the Berg Collection, New York Public Library, and at the University of Delaware; a collection of Smith's children's books are housed at Hollins University.

Source Citation

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2006. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006.
 http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

 

Past Louisiana Writer Award Recipients

Yusef Komunyakaa
October 2007

Elmore Leonard
October 2006

Lewis P. Simpson
October 2005

Shirley Ann Grau
November 2004

Carl Brasseaux
November 2003

James Lee Burke
November 2002

William J. Smith
April 2001

Ernest J. Gaines
October 2000