Patricia Smith

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For other persons named Patricia Smith, see Patricia Smith (disambiguation).

Patricia Smith (1955) is a poet, spoken word performer, playwright, author, writing teacher, and former journalist.

She was born in Chicago and lives in Westchester County, New York. She is a four time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam and winner of the Thurston-Wright Legacy Award in Poetry, the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, the National Poetry Series award, the Patterson poetry award and the Pushcart prize. In 2006, she was inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent.

She gained notoriety when The Boston Globe asked her to resign after editors discovered her metro column contained fictional characters and fabricated events in violation of journalism practice.

Contents

[edit] Bibliography

  • Fixed on a Furious Star, a biography of Harriet Tubman, coming from Crown in 2008.
  • "Blood Dazzler," poems about Hurricane Katrina, coming from Coffee House Press in 2008.
  • Teahouse of the Almighty, selected as a National Poetry Series winner, published in 2006 by Coffee House Press
  • Jana and the Kings, 2003, Lee & Low, winner of the New Voices Award for new children's book authors
  • Africans in America, history, companion book to the PBS television series of the same name, Harcourt Brace 1998, (co-authored with Charles Johnson)
  • Close to Death, poetry, 1993, Zoland Books
  • Big Towns, Big Talk, poetry, 1992, Zoland Books
  • Life According to Motown, poetry, 1991, Tía Chucha Press
  • Her poetry has appeared in major literary journals including The Paris Review and TriQuarterly, and dozens of anthologies including The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, and Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem's First Decade

[edit] Journalism

The Globe later returned the ASNE award and withdrew her from consideration for a Pulitzer Prize after the newspaper acknowledged that some of her columns contained fabricated people, events, and quotes. Smith admitted to four instances in her columns.[1] She was asked to resign from the Globe after this revelation.
  • Staff columnist, Ms. magazine, 2000-2002.
  • Staff columnist for Afazi.com, a now-defunct online magazine for African-American women, 2000

[edit] See also

[edit] Film/Radio/Television

  • Def Poetry Jam featured artist, Season 2 on HBO
  • SlamNation, primary cast member in award-winning documentary directed by Paul Devlin
  • Undertaker, long-form video of the poem of the same name, produced by San Francisco's Tied to the Track Films, won a Cable Ace Award and an award at the Sundance Film Festival
  • Chinese Cucumbers, a short-form video of the poem of the same name, produced by Kurt Heinz, Chicago, and featured in the Word of Motion Festival, Riga, Latvia, and the Vancouver Videopoem Festival
  • The Connection, a WBUR-FM Boston radio program hosted by Christopher Lydon, 2002
  • Special Coverage, hosted by Tom Ashbrook, with blues band Bop Thunderous, 2002

[edit] Plays

She wrote and performed two one-woman plays:

  • Life According to Motown, produced by Nobel Prize-winner Derek Walcott, performed at Trinidad Theater Workshop in Trinidad, Boston University Playwrights Theater, and Company One Theater in Hartford, CT.
  • Professional Suicide, produced by The Play Company, New York, NY, directed by Marion McClinton. An earlier version performed at the Women's Studies Consorium of The Fenway Colleges, Boston, and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Cambridge, MA.
  • Served also as Writer-in-residence, Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, 2001

[edit] Collaborations with Musicians & Choreographers

  • With New York City dance troupe, Urban Bush Women, 2006 - 8
  • With jazz innovators Bill Cole and the Untempered Ensemble, at St. Mark's Church, New York, 2005; Vision Festival/AvantJazz for Peace, New York, 2005; Steppin Out, Boston, 2004 and Carnegie Hall, New York, 2004
  • With avant garde jazz group Paradigm Shift at the Knitting Factory, New York, 2001; Artstuff at Northeastern University 1997-2000; and Lake Festival, Bridgeport, CT, 1997
  • With the Jeff Robinson Trio, Lizard Lounge, Boston, Mass, 1996-1998
  • With Bob Thunderous, a Boston blues band, numerous appearances including 14th St. Playhouse, Atlanta, and the Jay Liveson Memorial WORD Poetry and Music Festival in the Bronx
  • As an opening act with Lollapalooza, various cities, 1994

[edit] Teaching

Worked extensively as a teacher and writing workshop leader at all levels from grade school to universities. A few hightlights:

  • Palm Beach Poetry Festival, staff instructor with Billy Collins, Sharon Olds and Thomas Lux, 2005, 2007
  • Georgia Tech Bruce McEver Chair in Writing, 2004
  • Cave Canem Retreat for African-American Writers staff instructor with Cornelius Eady, Toi Derricotte, Kwame Dawes, et al., 2004 - 7.
  • American SCORES, worked with Marvin Bell to facilitate literary/poetry workshop for urban teachers, 2004-5
  • Lillie C. Evans School, Miami, taught writing and performance during annual residencies in an urban middle school, 1997-1999 and 2006
  • Paterson, New Jersey Public Schools led workshops for urban high school students under the auspicies of Passaic County Community College, 1997-2006

[edit] External links