View Printable List

Mark (Richard) Smith

Born: 11/19/1935 Charlevoix
Parents: Marcus Smith, Nellie Smith
Children: Heidi, Matje, Maida, Gudrun

Writings

Title	Genre	Audience	Publisher	Date
Smoke Street	Fiction	Adult	New York : Morrow	1984
Doctor Blues	Fiction	Adult	New York : Morrow	1983
The Delphinium Girl	Fiction	Adult	New York : Harper	1980
The Moon Lamp	Fiction	Adult	New York : Knopf	1976
The Death of the Detective - Reprinted 2007, Northwestern University Press.	Fiction	Adult	New York : Knopf	1974
The Middleman - Novel of a man caught between being tortured by his wife and torment from within plays up the native character of the inhabitants of Charlevoix.	Fiction, Michigan	Adult	Boston: Little, Brown	1967
Toyland - Although the action takes place throughout northern Michigan, the Toyland setting is the warped minds of two hired killers. Jensen and Pehr are the evil men in this unusual novel of criminal guilt.	Fiction, Michigan	Adult	Boston : Little, Brown	1965

What is the aim or goal of your writing: Mark Smith has been called a "writers writer", whose existentialist novels examine themes related to the idea that "man is a being who defines himself through his actions in a meaningless indifferent and ultimately treacherous world". These ideas are evident in this first novel. Smith's transient youth provided fuel for his works; he was at various times a merchant marine, student poet, European traveler, and Boston bohemian artist before becoming a novelist and college professor. His novels often draw comparisons to Albert Camus for their existential vision, and to Charles Dickens for their characterization.

May inquiries be sent to you about doing workshops, readings: No

Donated books to the Authors & Illustrators database project: No

Skills:
Author

Awards:

Name	Date
Senior Fulbright Lecturer to Yugoslavia	1985
National Endowment for the Arts Grant	1978
Ingram Merrill Foundation Grant	1976-1978
Nomination, National Book Award for Death of the Detective	1974
Guggenheim Fellowship	1968
Rockefeller Foundation Grant	1965-1966

Inclusion in biographical or critical works:

Name	Date
Michigan Authors, 3rd. ed.	1993
Literary Michigan by the Michigan Council for the Humanities	1988
Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook, edition(s) 1982	1982
Contemporary Authors - Contemporary Authors, volume(s) 13-16R Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, volume(s) 10, 44	1976-1994
Michigan in Fiction - Michigan Department of Education	1976
Directory of American Fiction Writers
Directory of American Scholars
International Authors and Writers Who's Who
Writers Directory

Education:

Degree	Institution	Location	Date
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)	Northwestern University	Evanston, IL	1960

Career:

Position	Organization	Location	Date
- Foster the vitality of the arts for everyone and help improve learning and enrichment for disadvantage children.	Lila Wallace Foundation	New York	1990
- Literature and Writing Awards	Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation	Brooklyn	1985-1988
Board of Directors - Sponsored by University of Maryland	Associated Writing Programs	College Park	1983-1986
Advisor	Rockefeller Foundation	New York	1967-1969
Professor - Emeritus	University of New Hampshire	Durham	1966
- Merchant Marine for 5 years, European traveler, poet, and bohem artist in Boston before publishing his first novel.

Other Resources:

MeLCat Links:
http://elibrary.mel.org/search/a?searchtype=X&searcharg=mark+smith&SORT=D&searchscope=15&submit.x=45&submit.y=9

Last Modified On: 6/23/2018 12:00:00 AM