Danez Smith

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Danez Smith
Danez smith 8024782 (48459329982)a.jpg
BornSt. Paul, Minnesota
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison
GenrePoetry
Literary movementDark Noise Collective
Notable works[insert] Boy
Don't Call Us Dead: Poems
Homie
Notable awardsLambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry
Kate Tufts Discovery Award
Forward Prize
Website
www.danezsmithpoet.com

Danez Smith is an African-American, poet, writer and performer from St. Paul, Minnesota.[1][2] They are queer, non-binary and HIV-positive. They are the author of the poetry collections [insert] Boy and Don't Call Us Dead: Poems, both of which have received multiple awards.[3] Their most recent poetry collection Homie was published on January 21, 2020. [4]

Early life and education[]

Smith was born in St. Paul, Minnesota[5] and attended Central High School.[6] They grew up with their mother and grandparents in the Selby Neighborhood.[7] Their family is from Mississippi and Georgia.[8]

Smith has said that they struggled with reading up until the third grade.[7] A teacher told them that being able to read would allow them to read video-game magazines, which inspired Danez.[7]

Smith was a First Wave Urban Arts Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with a BA in 2012.[9][10]

Career[]

Smith is a founding member of [11] with Fatimah Asghar, Franny Choi, , , and Jamila Woods.[12]

With Jamila Woods, Smith joined Macklemore for a performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in February, 2016.[13] Their writing has been published in Poetry (magazine) and Ploughshares.[5] On March 30, 2017, Smith was the inaugural guest of the Alexander Lawrence Posey Speaker Series at the University of Central Oklahoma.[14]

Smith is the author of three books. [insert] Boy won the 2014 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry,[15] with jurist Chase Twitchell describing Smith's poetry as "remarkable for its nervy, surprising, morally urgent poems."[16] [insert] Boy was also selected as a Boston Globe Best Poetry Book in 2014.[17] Smith's second book, Don't Call Us Dead: Poems, was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for poetry.[18] Their third book, Homie, was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and the 2021 NAACP Image Award for Poetry. [4] Smith is also the author of two chapbooks, hands on your knees (2013, Penmanship Books) and black movie (2015, Button Poetry), winner of the .

Smith has twice been a finalist in Individual World Poetry Slam.[16] They were a finalist in 2011[19] and placed second in 2014.[20]

With Franny Choi, Smith is co-host of the poetry podcast VS from the Poetry Foundation.[21]

Smith won a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts grant.[22]

In 2018, Smith's sonnet sequence "summer, somewhere" received the inaugural Four Quartets Prize from the Poetry Society of America.[23] At age 29, Smith also became the youngest recipient of the £10,000 Forward Prize for best poetry collection, as Don't Call Us Dead beat out works by U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith and former Forward winner Vahni Capildeo.[24] Smith serves on the board of directors for the D.C.-based poetry non-profit Split This Rock.[25]

In 2020, Smith published a third poetry collection called Homie.[26][27]

Personal life[]

Smith is genderqueer and uses they/them pronouns.[24]

Works[]

Poems[]

Chapbooks[]

  • hands on your knees (2013, Penmanship Books)
  • black movie (2015, Button Poetry)

Books[]

  • Boy (2014) ISBN 978-1936919284
  • Don't Call Us Dead (2017) ISBN 978-1555977856
  • Homie (2020) ISBN 978-1644450109

In Anthology[]

  • Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology (University of Georgia Press, 2018) ISBN 978-0820353159

Awards[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Bio". Danez Smith. Poet. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  2. ^ Stewart, Chris (16 April 2018). "Nonbinary Poet Danez Smith Is Winning Awards — And Our Hearts". them. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  3. ^ "Danez Smith". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Homie". Graywolf Press. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Danez Smith". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2017-09-19.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ^ "St. Paul poet Danez Smith shines in the national spotlight". Minnesota Public Radio. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Impassioned Twin Cities poet Danez Smith is a troubadour for our turbulent times". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  8. ^ "The Conversation: Cortney Lamar Charleston and Danez Smith". The Rumpus. 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  9. ^ "Bio". Danez Smith. Poet. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  10. ^ "Danez Smith: A Poet Finding Freedom through Language". Wisconsin Alumni Association. 2017-11-30. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  11. ^ "Dark Noise Collective". Dark Noise Collective. Archived from the original on 2017-04-08. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  12. ^ "Dark Noise: Fatimah Asghar, Franny Choi, Nate Marshall, Aaron Samuels, Danez Smith & Jamila Woods". Poetry Foundation. 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  13. ^ "See Macklemore Perform Jazzy 'White Privilege' on 'Colbert'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  14. ^ "Alexander Lawrence Posey Speaker Series". University of Central Oklahoma. New Plains Student Publishing, University of Central Oklahoma. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "[REVIEW] [insert] boy, by Danez Smith - [PANK]". [PANK]. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b "Poet Ross Gay wins Claremont's $100,000 Tufts prize". San Diego Union Tribune. Associated Press. March 2, 2016. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  17. ^ Share, Don (December 10, 2014). "Best poetry books of 2014 - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  18. ^ "2017 National Book Award finalists revealed". CBS News. October 4, 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  19. ^ Calello, Monique. "Slam poet Danez Smith to perform at Bridgewater". The News Leader. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  20. ^ Segal, Corinne (November 16, 2015). "Poet Danez Smith issues a wake-up call to white America". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  21. ^ "Introducing VS Podcast: Where Poets Confront the Ideas That Move Them by Franny Choi, Danez Smith". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2017-09-19.CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ^ Hertzel, Laurie (December 13, 2016). "Four Minnesota writers win NEA grants". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b Buccieri, Laura (April 16, 2018). "Danez Smith Wins the $20,000 Four Quartets Prize, Calls Their Mother". Literary Hub.
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b c Flood, Alison (18 September 2018). "Danez Smith becomes youngest winner of Forward poetry prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  25. ^ "Board of Directors | About Us | Split This Rock". splitthisrock.org. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  26. ^ Sehgal, Parul (2020-01-07). "'Homie,' a Book of Poems That Produces Shocking New Vibrations". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  27. ^ Wallin, Blake (2020-01-26). "Poetry by Its Own Name: a review of Homie by Danez Smith". Maudlin House. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  28. ^ "poem where I be & you just might by Danez Smith". Poetry Society of America.
  29. ^ "Dinosaurs in the Hood by Danez Smith". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Magazine. 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2017-09-19.CS1 maint: others (link)
  30. ^ Smith (2015-09-03). "the bullet was a girl". Academy of American Poets. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
  31. ^ "Watch This Queer Black Poet Dismantle Racist Myth That 'All Lives Matter' (Video)". 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  32. ^ "Poem: "You're Dead, America" By Danez Smith". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  33. ^ Smith (2017-02-01). "C.R.E.A.M." Academy of American Poets. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  34. ^ "Don't Try Us". The FADER. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  35. ^ Smith, Danez (2017-06-09). "From 'summer, somewhere'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  36. ^ Foundation, Poetry (2020-03-10). "2014 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship Winners Announced". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  37. ^ "Award Winners". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  38. ^ Poetry Foundation. "2016 Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards Go to Ross Gay and Danez Smith". Harriet: The Blog. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  39. ^ "Winners & Finalists - Tufts Poetry Awards". cgu.edu. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  40. ^ "NEA Announces Creative Writing Fellowships | Poets & Writers". Poets & Writers. December 13, 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  41. ^ "Meet National Book Award Finalist Danez Smith". Literary Hub. 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2020-03-10.

External links[]

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