U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1968-1970
William Jay Smith was born in Winnfield, Louisiana, in 1918. He published more than 50 books of poetry for adults and children, including The Tin Can and Other Poems (1966), Collected Poems, 1939-1989 (1990), and The Cherokee Lottery (2000). He also published translations of French, Russian, Hungarian, and Swedish poets. Smith was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1968-1970, and was also a member and former vice president for literature of the Academy of Arts and Letters. He served as poet in residence at Williams College from 1959-1967 and for two years as chairman of the writing division of the School of Arts at Columbia University. A Professor Emeritus at Hollins College, Smith died in 2015.
Audio Recordings with William Jay Smith
- William Jay Smith reading his poems and his translations of poems of Andreĭ Voznesenskiĭ in the Recording Laboratory, June 9, 1965
- National Children’s Book Week anniversary program: in observance of the fiftieth anniversary of National Children’s Book Week (November 17-21), writers read and discuss children’s poetry on November 17, 1969, in the Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress
- William Jay Smith reading his poems with comment in the Coolidge Auditorium, December 1, 1969
- Consultants’ reunion readings by thirteen Consultants in Poetry in the Coolidge Auditorium, March 6, 1978
- William Jay Smith reading his poems in the Mumford Room, March 16, 2000