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Biography William Jay Smith

U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1968-1970

William Jay Smith, U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1968-1970. Photo credit: Robert Turney, Charles Scribner’s Sons

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

Selected Works at the Library of Congress