Arthur Edwin Smith

1948 - 2018

Arthur Edwin Smith

Knoxville, TN

Arthur Edwin Smith passed away on Friday, November 9th, 2018 at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 70 years old.

Arthur Smith was born in Stockton, California on April 17th, 1948. He received degrees from San Francisco State University (B.A., M.A.) and from the University of Houston (Ph.D.).

To those who knew and loved him, he was a master teacher and masterful poet. His first book of poems, Elegy on Independence Day, was awarded the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize and was published in 1985. That same year, it was selected by the Poetry Society of America to receive the Norma Farber First Book Award. His second book of poems, Orders of Affection, was published in 1996, and his third book, The Late World, was published in 2002. His most recent book of poems is The Fortunate Era (2013).

His work has been honored with a "Discovery"/The Nation Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, and he was selected as the Theodore Morrison Fellow in Poetry for the 1987 Bread Loaf Writer's Conference. He served two terms as an advisory member of the Tennessee Arts Commission Literary Panel, and, at the time of his passing, he was Professor of English at the University of Tennessee. His poems have appeared in numerous journals including The Nation, The New Yorker, Poetry, The Southern Review, The Kenyon Review, and North American Review.

He is preceded in death by his parents Walter ("Whitey") and Iris, his sister Karen, and his beloved first wife Veronica. He is survived by his three dogs Kaeli, Kassie, and Koko, and by hundreds of friends and literally thousands of students who knew first-hand the sharpness of his mind and the generosity of his heart.

A Memorial Poetry Reading will be held on January 12th, 2019 at 10 am at: The University of Tennessee Visitor's Center, Room A/B - 128/129, 2712 Neyland Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919.

In lieu of flowers, please consider giving a gift in Arthur's name to one of his favorite charities: Tiger Haven, 237 Harvey Road, Kingston, TN 37763, Tel: (865) 376-4100, 501(c)(3) nonprofit - all donations are tax deductible. Online condolences may be extended at www.rosemortuary.com.