Sid Smith (born ) is an English

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Life and career

Smith was born in Preston,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. For seven years he worked in labouring jobs, including dustman, gardener,

gravedigger A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service. Description If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), g ...

and construction worker. Since then he has hitch-hiked 9,000 miles around the US, lived in Italy and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, and acquired a pilot's licence for paragliders. Smith came late to literary prominence. He had been a journalist for 17 years, including two years as a

sub-editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material ( copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual o ...

on ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', and was already in his 50s when his debut novel ''Something Like A House'' was published in 2001. The tale of a British deserter in China at the time of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, '' Something Like a House'' won critical praise and went on to win both the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

and the Whitbread First Novel Award. What was remarkable about the book was its meticulous evocation of time and place, especially since Smith had never been to China and had written the book entirely from his own research, conducted among other places in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

. Smith says that his only previous contact with China had been a "one-hour stopover at

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

airport". He claims that "the only ticket you need is a library ticket". However, his novels portray the gritty details of manual labour, about which he may claim to be knowledgeable. Smith's second novel, ''A House by the River'' (2003), was another adventure story set in China. His third, ''China Dreams'' (2007), has the theme of a Londoner who is obsessed with China but has never been there. Smith is a

on ''

''. His website at http://www.sidsmith.co.uk/index.htm is constantly updated with short stories, journalism and poetry.

Private life

Smith was married with full Shinto

rite Rite may refer to: * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition Religion * Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations * Cath ...

s to Chieko Nomura at a shrine in Southern Japan. He lives in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

in north London.

Notable works

* '' Something Like a House'', Picador 2001 * ''A House by the River'', Picador 2003 * ''China Dreams'', Pan Macmillan 2007 Nisbet Chronicles * ''Nisbet and Trafalgar,'' Kindle Edition * ''Nisbet and Nelson's Eye'' (work in progress)

Other writings

Smith is also a poet and short story writer on a variety of topics.

Awards

Whitbread First Novel Award 2001 - ''Something Like a House''

2001 - ''Something Like a House''

Encore Award The £10,000 Encore Award for the best second novel was first awarded in 1990. It is sponsored by Lucy Astor. The award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes by celebrating the achievement of outstanding second novels, often neglecte ...

Nominee 2004 - ''A House by the River''

References

External links

Sid Smith's website: the complete free text of 'China Dreams', unpublished poetry and fiction, extracts from the novels

Sid Smith – profile at Pan MacMillan

Interview on BBC Radio: On writing novels about a place you haven’t been (from about 8mins in)

BBC Radio interview: Why writing novels is boring (from 16mins 40sec in)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sid 1949 births Living people British male journalists 21st-century English novelists James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Writers from Preston, Lancashire English male novelists 21st-century English male writers