Called "a resurrected Charles Dickens" by The New York Times, and "one of the most ambitious, original, and thought-provoking novelists writing today" by The Chicago Daily News, Mark Smith is the author of seven novels. His stunning The Death of the Detective became a New York Times Bestseller and was nominated for the 1974 National Book Award. The Moon Lamp and The Delphinium Girl were both Book-of-the-Month Club selections. Doctor Blues, published in 1983, further enhanced Smith's reputation; John Irving found it "funny and boisterous and wise." The Boston Sunday Herald described Smith's second book, The Middleman, as "one man's voice speaking clearly above the mass voice, a superb example of the novelist's art." Smith's newest work, Smoke Street, a surrealistic adventure set in South America, has just been published this fall.

On Wednesday morning he and Robley Wilson, Jr., will talk about fiction writing and will answer questions from the audience. Smith will read his fiction that evening. [extracted from 1984 brochure]

7th Annual Literary Festival