Ken Smith
Ken Smith was a notable English poet born on December 4, 1938, in Rudston, East Yorkshire. He had a challenging upbringing, marked by his father's violent temper, which influenced his early experiences and inspired his poetry. After completing national service in the air force, Smith pursued English studies in Leeds, where he became involved with the literary community and coedited the influential journal Stand. His debut poetry collection, The Pity, published in 1967, established him as a significant voice in English poetry.
Throughout his career, Smith held various teaching positions and engaged with diverse subjects, including student protests and life in prison, which he chronicled in his nonfiction work, Inside Time. His poetry was known for its experimental nature and incorporation of multimedia elements, making it both contemporary and accessible. Smith's work continued to resonate with readers until his untimely death on June 27, 2003, after a trip to Cuba. His legacy endures, as critics regard him as a critical figure in modern British poetry, with expectations that his influence will persist into the future.
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Ken Smith
Writer
- Born: December 4, 1938
- Birthplace: Rudston, East Yorkshire, England
- Died: June 27, 2003
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Ken Smith was born on December 4, 1938, in Rudston, East Yorkshire, England, to John Smith and Millicent Sitch Smith. His father was a farm laborer and the family moved around, following his father’s work. Smith recalled his early days in the poem “Family Group.” When Smith was thirteen, the family moved to Hull, where his father purchased a small grocery store. Home life was generally unpleasant; his father’s violent temper often placed young Smith in defense of his mother.
Smith attended a variety of schools until he was called up for national service in 1958. He was a typist in the air force and used his time to read, completing his college entrance qualifications during his military service. He completed his national service in 1960 and that year married Ann Minis. The couple moved to Leeds, where Smith began his studies in English. He soon became active with a group of fellow students, including budding poets Jon Silkin and Tony Harrison. The group was highly involved in the literary magazine Poetry and Audience. At the same time, the poet Geoffrey Hill taught contemporary poetry at Leeds, and he was a major influence on Smith. Smith graduated in 1963, the same year he became a coeditor of Stand, an influential and radical journal.
Unable to support his family with his writing, Smith began a teaching career and in 1965 taught complementary studies at Exeter College of Art. In 1967, Smith published a poetry collection, The Pity. The book was reviewed in prestigious publications and established him as a force in English poetry. In 1968, he joined in student protests and wrote about the experience in Academic Board Poems (1968). He left England in 1969, taking a position as poet-in-residence at Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania and moving from there to College of the Holy Cross and Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. His poetry from these years was published in Work, Distances/Poems (1972).
Returning to England in 1973, Smith began to self-publish his work. From 1976 to 1978, he was a Yorkshire arts fellow at Leeds University, moving to London when his marriage dissolved. His self-published pamphlet Fox Running (1980) received critical attention. Between 1985 and 1987, Smith was writer-in- residence at Wormwood Scrubs prison. He used this experience to write a nonfiction book, Inside Time (1989), describing life in prison.
Smith continued to write prolifically throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, and his work won critical acclaim. One poetry collection, Terra (1986), was short-listed for the Whitbread Prize. In 1993, Smith and his second wife, Judi Benson, edited Klaonica: Poems for Bosnia. Critics agree that Smith was at the height of his poetic powers when he fell fatally ill at age sixty-four with legionnaire’s disease after a trip to Cuba in 2003. He died on June 27, 2003.
Smith’s achievements as a poet were many. Most notably, he incorporated photographs and drawings into his highly personal and always contemporary work. His work on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio allowed him to further expand his poetry by merging music and sound with words. Always experimental, but also accessible, it is likely that Smith’s work will continue to gain readership throughout the twenty-first century.