Vivian Brian Smith (born 3 June 1933) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

poet. He is considered one of the most lyrical and observant Australian poets of his generation.

Early life

Smith was born in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and studied French at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

from which he graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

. He left Tasmania in the late 1950s and has lived since then in Sydney, where he was a longtime professor at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

until his retirement in the early 2000s. He returns to Tasmania every year and his poetry is still influenced by the landscape there. Smith has published criticism as well as a bibliography of the work of

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...

.Smith, Vivian
''AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource'', 14 October 2008. He has been an advocate of Australian literature and of many individual Australian writers.

Writing career

Smith's first book of poetry, ''The Other Meaning'', was published in 1956 and he has since published eight further collections, among which ''Tide Country'' won the New South Wales Premier's Prize for Poetry and the Grace Leven Prize. A key later collection is ''Along The Line'' (Salt, 2007). He is a highly respected critic, having produced key studies on Australian literature and contributed much to the growth and sophistication of criticism surrounding Australian poetry. With his fellow poet and great friend, the late Noel Rowe, he published the anthology ''Windchimes: Asia in Australian Poetry'' (Pandanus Books 2006).

Awards and recognition

Smith won the

Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is awarded annually as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for a book of collected poems or for a single poem of substantial length published in book form.Patrick White Award The Patrick White Award is an annual literary prize established by Patrick White. White used his 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature award to establish a trust for this prize. The $25,000 cash award is given to a writer who has been highly creative o ...

in 1997. He was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

in 1998.

Bibliography

Poetry collections

* ''The Other Meaning'' (1956) * ''An Island South'' (1967) * ''Familiar Places : Poems'' (1978) * ''Tide Country'' (1982) * ''Selected Poems'' (1985) * ''New Selected Poems'' (1995) * ''Late News'' (2000) * ''Along the Line'' (2006) * ''The Other Side of Things'' (2008) * ''Traveller's Tale : And Other Poems'' (2011) * ''Here, There and Elsewhere'' (2012)

Anthologies

* ''Australian Poetry 1969'' (1969) edited * ''Young St Poets Anthology'' (1981) edited * ''Quadrant Twenty-Five Years'' (1982) edited with Lee Shrubb and Peter Coleman * ''Effects of Light : The Poetry of Tasmania'' (1985) edited with Margaret Scott * ''Australian Poetry 1986 : the finest of recent Australian poetry'' (1986) edited * ''Australian Poetry 1988 : the finest of recent Australian poetry'' (1988) edited * ''Sydney's Poems : A Selection on the Occasion of the City's One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary 1842-1992'' (1992) edited with Robert Gray * ''Windchimes : Asia in Australian Poetry'' (2006) edited with Noel Rowe

Non-fiction

* ''The Writing of Novels and Short Stories, nd James McAuley's Recent Poetry'' edited with Gavin Casey (1964) * * ''Nettie Palmer : Her Private Journal Fourteen Years, Poems, Reviews and Literary Essays'' (1988) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Vivian 1933 births Living people 20th-century Australian poets University of Tasmania alumni University of Sydney faculty Recipients of the Centenary Medal People from Hobart Patrick White Award winners 21st-century Australian poets Australian male poets Writers from Tasmania Quadrant (magazine) people 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities