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Michael V Smith, MFA
Professor
Creative Studies, Creative Writing
Other Titles: Creative WritingOffice: CCS 343
Phone: 250.807.9706
Email: Michael.V.Smith@ubc.ca
Graduate student supervisor
Research Summary
Poetry (verbatim, concrete, confessional, spoken word), novel, short fiction, creative nonfiction/memoir, experimental short film and videopoems, writing with digital media (ie Twitter, Instagram, video, podcasting, audio installation, YouTube, etc.), with particular focus on queer oral history and memoir, as well as small town and working class stories.
Courses & Teaching
CRWR 474 Writing with Media, 472 Editing and Publishing, 470 Novel, 250 Screenwriting, 216 Poetry, 210 Power of Story, 160 Fiction and Drama
Biography
Michael V. Smith is an interdisciplinary artist, working as a writer, filmmaker, and performance artist. His most recent book is Bad Ideas, published by Nightwood Editions in 2017.
As writer, Michael V. Smith works with small town stories, examining issues of class, identity, community and belonging. His novel, Cumberland (Cormorant Books), was nominated for the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award. His first book of poetry, What You Can’t Have (Signature Editions), was nominated for the ReLit Prize. My Body Is Yours, Smith’s memoir of growing up queer and femme, was shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award.
Working interdisciplinarily, he’s published a hybrid book of concrete poems (which are photographs) titled Body of Text, created with David Ellingsen. Smith + Ellingsen have also been working on other hybrid works, Swap and the Tickle Trunk Project, marrying performance art with photography, to examine the currencies and constructions of identities.
In recent years, Smith’s short videos have played around the world, in cities such as Milan, Dublin, Turin, London, New York, Toronto, Paris, Geneva, Buenos Aires, SF, LA and Bombay.
As a performer, Smith focuses on small stage work, usually mixing any combination of drag, improv, stand-up comedy, and audience-participation work. He has performed in festivals and galleries in Berlin, Bielefeld, Seattle, San Francisco, Toronto, Utrecht, Vancouver, Montreal, and Los Angeles.
Websites
Degrees
MFA in Creative Writing from UBC Vancouver. Thesis: Screenwriting; BA, Combined Honours in English and Drama Studies, from Glendon College, the bilingual campus of York University.
Selected Publications & Presentations
Poetry
Bad Ideas, Nightwood Editions, 2017
Body of Text, with David Ellingsen, BookThug, 2008
What You Can’t Have, Signature Editions, 2006
Novels
Progress, Cormorant Books, 2011
Cumberland, Cormorant Books, 2002
Nonfiction
My Body Is Yours, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2015
Selected Exhibitions
Michael V. Smith (Artist), David Ellingsen (Artist). [50% authorship] Show title: Tickle Trunk Project. Venue: Jeffrey Boone Gallery. Presentation date: Feb, 2006. Curator: Jeffrey Boone. Peer-assessed venue.
Verstehen, group show. Campbell River Art Gallery, July-August 2015.
Michael V. Smith (Artist), David Ellingsen (Artist). [50% authorship] Show title: Works from the Interior. Works: Body Of Text, 3 images. Venue: AHVA Library Gallery, UBC Vancouver. Presentation date: Jan, 2011.
Michael V. Smith (Artist), David Ellingsen (Artist). [50% authorship] Show title: Boundaries. Works: Body Of Text, 3 images. Venue: Kelowna Art Gallery. Curator: Liz Wylie. Peer-assessed venue. Presentation date: Nov, 2008.
Selected Grants & Awards
British Columbia Arts Council, Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes, short fiction collection, $6,000, 2018
Equity Office, Equity Enhancement Grant, $6000, 2018
Canada Council for the Arts, Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes, short fiction collection, $24,000, 2017
Hampton Grant Research Grant, Sound Can Project European tour, $20,000, 2011
Equity Office, Equity Enhancement Grant, $5000, 2008
Canada Council for the Arts, Progress, novel, $18,000, 2007
Canada Council for the Arts, Cumberland, novel, $10,000, 2001
British Columbia Arts Council, What We Wanted, poetry, $5000, 2000
Canada Council for the Arts, What We Wanted, poetry, $10,000, 1999
Awards & Distinctions
Lambda Literary Award, Finalist Award Gay Memoir/Biography, Lambda Literary Foundation, 2016
Rainbow Awards, Runner-up, Memoir Award, Rainbow Awards society, 2016
Okanagan Arts Award, Creative Writing Award, 2016
Dayne Ogilvie Award for Emerging Gay Writers, The Writers’ Trust of Canada, $4000, 2007
ReLit Award, Poetry Nomination Shortlist, 2007
Best Canadian Female Short Award, Inside Out Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival, $1000, 2005
Colin Campbell Award for Best Canadian Male Short, Inside Out Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival, $1000, 2005
Visual Artist of the Year, Vancouver Pink Triangle Press Community Award, 2005
Third Prize Jury’s Choice, University of Oregon Queer Film Festival, 2005
Western Magazine Gold Award for Fiction, Western Magazine Awards Foundation, $1000, 2004
Zed People’s Choice Shorts Award, Out On Screen, $500, 2004
The Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize Nomination Shortlist, The Writers’ Trust of Canada & McClelland & Stewart Publisher, 2004
DIY Digital Video Project Award, Out On Screen, $500, 2003
Writer of the Year, Vancouver Pink Triangle Press, 2003
Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award Nominee, $750, 2003
Professional Services/Affiliations/Committees
Living Positive Resource Centre, volunteer
The Writers Union of Canada and League of Canadian Poets, member
Writers Trust Authors Advisory Group, member
Graduate Supervisions
Richard Amante, MFA Creative Writing, he Porthole (memoir)
Erin Scott, MFA Interdisciplinary Studies,Truth or Consequences (audience-participation theatre)
Miriam Huxley, MFA Creative Writing, White Rock (novel)
Clayton McCann, MFA Interdisciplinary Studies, The Burdens of Pleasure: Creative nonfiction from Canada’s Illicit Cannabis Production Industry
Cassandra Campeau-Bouthillier, MFA Interdisciplinary Studies between two (poetry)
Kristin Burns, MFA Interdisciplinary Studies The Business of Flowering Trees (novel)
Lorna Tureski, MFA Interdisciplinary Studies, Mud Bay Flats (novel)