William Jay Smith facts for kids

William Jay Smith (born April 22, 1918 – died August 18, 2015) was an American poet. He was chosen to be the nineteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1968 to 1970. This important role means he was the official poet for the United States government.

About William Jay Smith

William Jay Smith was born in Winnfield, Louisiana. He grew up in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He studied at Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned two degrees. He continued his studies at Columbia University and later at Wadham College, Oxford in England as a Rhodes Scholar. He also studied in Italy at the University of Florence.

In 1947, he married another poet named Barbara Howes. They lived in England and Italy for a while and had two sons, David and Gregory. They later divorced in the 1960s.

Smith taught poetry at several universities. He was a poet in residence at Williams College from 1959 to 1967. He also taught at Columbia University and was a professor of English literature at Hollins University. He was the first Native American person to be named the Poet Laureate in the United States.

William Jay Smith wrote many books of poetry. Two of his collections were even finalists for the National Book Award, which is a very important award for writers. He was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters starting in 1975.

William Jay Smith's Works

William Jay Smith wrote many different kinds of books, including poetry for adults and children, translations, and non-fiction.

Poetry for Adults

• Poems (1947)
• Celebration at Dark (1950)
• The Tin Can and Other Poems (1966)
• His Collected Poems: 1939–1989 (1990)
• The World Below the Window: Poems, 1937–1997 (1998)
• The Cherokee Lottery: A Sequence of Poems (2000)

Poems for Children

William Jay Smith was also well-known for his fun and imaginative poems for young readers.

• Laughing Time (1955)
• Boy Blue's Book of Beasts (1957)
• Typewriter Town (1960)
• Ho for a Hat! (1964)
• Laughing Time: Collected Nonsense (1980)
• Around My Room (2000)

Translations

Smith also translated poems and plays from other languages into English.

• Poems of a Multimillionaire by Valéry Larbaud (1955)
• Selected Writings of Jules Laforgue (1956)
• Two Plays by Charles Bertin: "Christopher Columbus" and "Don Juan" (1970)
• Songs of C by Federico García Lorca (1994)

Non-fiction Books

He wrote non-fiction books, including his memories of growing up.

• The Streaks of the Tulip: Selected Criticism (1972)
• Army Brat: A Memoir (1980)
• My Friend Tom: The Poet-Playwright Tennessee Williams (2012)

Editor

He also helped edit other collections of poems.

• Dutch Interior (1984)
• Poems From Italy (1985)

Plays

Smith also wrote plays.

• The Straw Market (2006)

Awards and Honors

William Jay Smith received many awards for his writing throughout his life.

• 1945 Young Poets prize, Poetry magazine
• 1964 Ford fellowship for drama
• 1970 Henry Bellamann Major award
• 1972 Loines award
• 1972, 1995 National Endowment for the Arts grant
• 1975, 1989 National Endowment for the Humanities grant
• 1978 Gold Medal of Labor (Hungary)
• 1980 New England Poetry Club Golden Rose Award
• 1982 Ingram Merrill Foundation grant
• 1990 California Children's Book and Video Awards for Ho for a Hat!
• 1991 Medal for service to the French language, French Academy
• 1993 Pro Cultura Hungarica medal
• Nominated twice for the National Book Award in poetry
• 1997 René Vásquez Díaz prize, Swedish Academy