Larry Smith

Larry Smith grew up along the Ohio River in the steel mill town of Mingo Junction. He worked as a newspaper boy, cook, steel mill worker, then taught high school English in Euclid, Ohio. His education came from Muskingum College, then Kent State University. For 35 years he taught writing and film at the Firelands College of Bowling Green State University in Huron, Ohio, where he and his wife Ann, a nursing professor, raised three children. He is the author of 8 previous books of poetry, 5 books...See more

Larry Smith grew up along the Ohio River in the steel mill town of Mingo Junction. He worked as a newspaper boy, cook, steel mill worker, then taught high school English in Euclid, Ohio. His education came from Muskingum College, then Kent State University. For 35 years he taught writing and film at the Firelands College of Bowling Green State University in Huron, Ohio, where he and his wife Ann, a nursing professor, raised three children. He is the author of 8 previous books of poetry, 5 books of fiction, 2 literary biographies, and 2 books of Chinese Zen poetry translation. He wrote and co-produced documentary films on authors James Wright and Kenneth Patchen. In 1985 he and David Shevin co-founded Bottom Dog Press which has edited and published 220 books of fiction, poetry, and memoir. He has directed the Firelands Writing Center for 40 years. In 1980-1981 the Smith family lived in Sicily where he taught Beat literature as a Fulbright Lecturer. He and Ray McNiece co-edited America Zen: A Gathering of Contemporary Zen Poets.In 1990 Smith studied haiku and tanka with Clark Strand at Mount Tremper Zen Monastery near Woodstock, NY, and he has attended Blue Cliff Retreats with Thich Nhat Hahn. He and his wife were cofounders of Converging Paths Meditation Center in Sandusky and Huron, Ohio. See less