Coffee with the Poets and Writers meets Wednesday, November 16, 10:30 a.m. at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC.
His book is Camino Poems—Reflectionson on the Way. "Because it was autumn, many days I gleaned blackberries,
grapes, apples, figs, peaches and other fruit and chestnuts along the way. It
meant that my attention was focused on the abundance of this earth instead of
on my narrow self and its minor concerns. My attention often fell on
butterflies, snails, ant hills and the abundance of rocks,” Smith
said.
Poetry has been an essential part of Newton Smith’s life for more than fifty years. Wanting to write
poems was what motivated him to leave Georgia Tech and major in English at UNC
Chapel Hill. After a three-year tour in the Army as a Russian linguist, he
returned to UNC for his Ph.D.
In graduate school he was one of the
founding editors along with Russell Banks and William Matthews of Lillabulero Magazine and Lillabulero Press, then one of the significant
publications of the small press movement. His dissertation was The Origin of the Black Mountain
Poets, one of the earliest
studies of that movement.
He has taught poetry to a wide range
of writers, from second grade to retirees as well as undergraduates and
graduate students. He has published widely in literary magazines beginning in
the 1970’s, including Southern
Poetry Review, Carolina Quarterly, Ann Arbor Review and others. His most recent poetry
publications are in the Asheville
Poetry eview, Rivendale, Main Street Rag, Pisgah Review, and Jonah.
Bring a couple of original poems or a short prose piece for open
mic which is a special part of the event. You will find a receptive audience. Join
the group for lunch at Angelo’s on the square.
