Photo Credit: Helen Smith

Katherine Smith

b. 1960

Current City, State, Country

Ijamsville, Maryland, USA

Birth City, State, Country

Berkeley, California, USA

Biography

Katherine Smith was born in Berkeley, California and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her mother’s family was one of the first Jewish families in West Virginia, where the family home—a center for Jewish culture in Thomas, West Virginia—is still standing. Her paternal grandfather, given a choice at Ellis Island between pursuing a career as a rabbi or a coal miner, chose to become a coal miner. Katherine Smith’s poetry is published in a variety of journals including, BoulevardNorth American ReviewCincinnati ReviewMissouri ReviewPloughsharesThe Southern Review, and many others. Her first book, Argument By Design (Washington Writers’ Publishing House) appeared in 2003. Her second book of poems, Woman Alone on the Mountain (Iris Press), appeared in 2014. She now works at Montgomery College in Maryland where she has served as Senior Poetry Editor of the Potomac Review since 2007.

Published Works

Secret City (Madville Press, 2022)
Woman Alone on the Mountain (Iris Press, 2014)
Argument by Design (Washington Writers’ Publishing House, 2003)

Links to Sample Works

Current Title

Professor, Montgomery College

Education

University of Tennessee, B.A. in English Literature, 1983
University of Virginia, M.F.A. in Creative Writing, 1986

Subject Matter

Genre