Mark Haskell Smith (born June 14, 1957) is an American writer who lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He is best known for his books, the non-fiction ''Rude Talk in Athens: Ancient Rivals, the Birth of Comedy, and a Writers Journey through Greece'' published by

Unnamed Press Unnamed Press is an independent publisher based in Los Angeles, California. Unnamed Press publishes literary fiction and non-fiction, with an emphasis on debuts by women, underrepresented voices and people of color, as well as internationally foc ...

; ''Naked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World'', published by

Grove Press Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...

and ''Heart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers and the Race for the Cannabis Cup'', published by

Broadway Books Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., released its first list in Fall, 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquired Rando ...

, as well as six novels: ''Moist'', ''Delicious'', ''Salty'', ''Baked'', ''Raw: A Love Story'', and ''Blown'' published by Grove Atlantic/Black Cat. He has also written screenplays for the Brazilian film ''A Partilha'' and ''Playing God'' as well as television shows ''The Magnificent Seven'', ''Star Trek: Voyager'', and ''Martial Law''. He adapted his third novel, ''Salty'', into a feature film directed by

Simon West Simon Alexander West (born 1961) is an English film director and producer. He has primarily worked in the action genre, most notably as the director of the films ''Con Air'', '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'', '' The Mechanic'', and ''The Expendab ...

and starring

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

. The adaptation, '' Gun Shy'', was released on September 8, 2017.

Early life

Smith was born in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, and was raised in a suburb of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. Smith attended and received a B.A. from

The Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

in 1979 and an MFA from the

American Film Institute Conservatory The AFI Conservatory is a private not-for-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students (called "Fellows") learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on st ...

in 1987. After his undergraduate work, Smith moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, WA living in the Belltown neighborhood. He played guitar and "sang" in the

art-punk Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spirit ...

band The Beakers (1979–80) and 3 Swimmers (1981–83). Smith moved to

in 1984 to attend the American Film Institute's Conservatory. He lived briefly in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(1987–89), attending classes at Playwright's Horizons theater lab.

Writing career

Smith began working as a playwright in the 1990s and his first play ''The Cost of Doing Business'' was workshopped at Playwright's Horizons and

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has gr ...

before premiering at The Met Theatre in

in 1992. The play was met with mixed reviews. The Los Angeles Times said, "the kind of superficial, self-congratulatory puff that gives stage liberalism a bad name." However, Hollywood executives took notice and the play led to a career in screenwriting. Smith spent the next decade working on films doing uncredited rewrites, most notably on ''

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus '' Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used ...

'' and '' Excess Baggage'', both produced by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Frustrated by the way his original script '' Playing God'' turned out, Smith began writing novels. His first, ''Moist'', was published in 2002 by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

and optioned by

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and formerly DreamWorks Studios, commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film company and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994 as a li ...

for a film with Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen producing and

Barry Sonnenfeld Barry Sonnenfeld (born April 1, 1953) is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as ''The Addams Family'' (1991) and its sequel ''Addams Family Va ...

directing. Smith adapted the screenplay and the film is currently in development. ''Delicious'' was published in 2005 by the

Atlantic Monthly Press Grove Atlantic, Inc. is an American independent publisher, based in New York City. Formerly styled "Grove/Atlantic, Inc.", it was created in 1993 by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press. As of 2018 Grove Atlantic calls itself "A ...

, with ''Salty'' (2007), ''Baked'' (2010), ''Raw: A Love Story'' (2013), and ''Blown'' (2018) published by Grove Atlantic/Black Cat. His first book of non-fiction was published in 2012, ''The Heart of Dankness'', explores the world of underground botanists, outlaw farmers, and renegade strain hunters who pursue excellence and diversity in producing world-class cannabis. While his second, ''Naked at Lunch'', is an immersive journalistic account of the world of nudism and was published in 2015. ''Rude Talk in Athens'' published in 2021, is a speculative biography of the 5th century BCE writer Ariphrades and his rival

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

Works

Novels

* ''Moist'' (St Martin's Press, 2003) * ''Delicious'' (Grove Press, 2006) * ''Salty'' (Black Cat, 2007) * ''Baked'' (Black Cat, 2010) * ''Raw: A Love Story'' (Black Cat, 2013) * ''Blown'' (Black Cat, 2018)

Nonfiction

* ''Heart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers, and the Race for the Cannabis Cup'' (Broadway Books, 2012) * ''Naked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist’s Adventures in the Clothing Optional World'' (Grove Press, 2015) * ''Rude Talk in Athens: Ancient Rivals, the Birth of Comedy, and a Writers Journey through Greece'' (Unnamed Press, 2021)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mark Haskell 21st-century American novelists American crime fiction writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male novelists American male screenwriters American rock musicians Writers from Los Angeles 1957 births Living people American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from California