J. D. Smith

Biography

My seventh collection of poetry, The Place That Is Coming to Us, will be published in 2025 by Broadstone Books. My first fiction collection, Transit, was published in 2022 by Unsolicited Press.

My other books include the formal verse collection The Killing Tree, light verse collection Catalogs for Food Lovers, and the essay collection Dowsing and Science. My individual poems have appeared in publications including The Awl, Harvard Review Online, Nimrod, and Tar River Poetry.

Educated at American University, the University of Chicago, the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and Carleton University, I have received scholarships to attend the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Bucknell University Seminar for Younger Poets and the West Chester University Poetry Conference. I have also additionally received Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

I live with my wife and rescue animals in Washington, DC, and I am available for lectures, readings and signings.

Quick Links

Praise for J.D. Smith

"The stories in J.D. Smith's Transit are gloriously disconcerting, beautifully ominous, and utterly, perfectly strange. By turns soft then sage then savage, these are tales of the unforeseen, histories written upon lore and rogue rumor. Nothing is on the nose; every story takes place to the side of itself. These are provocative narratives told plainly, unburdened of apologetics or sanctimony. And undergirding the entirety of this collection is a lyricism that's as poised and deliberate as it is sinister. I wish I'd written this book." Jill Alexander Essbaum, author of Hausfrau

"Old meets new, Noir meets innocence, as JD Smith's prose travels through time and space, real and imagined, looking not so much for truth as to dispel the daily injustices and intolerances of our lives."

Sue Guiney, author of Tangled Roots, A Clash of Innocents, and Out of the Ruins

The Killing Tree

The description and order page for The Killing Tree (Finishing Line Press).

E-mail the author

Selected Works

Picture Book

The Best Mariachi in the World

In The Best Mariachi in the World, young Gustavo overcomes his initial frustrations and finds a way to contribute to his family’s musical tradition. The story’s cultural setting, unusual subject matter and playful humorous approach represent a fresh combination of elements.

Poetry

The Killing Tree

Formal verse collection by J.D. Smith