H. T. Kirby-Smith
Encyclopedia
H.T. or Tom Kirby-Smith (born 1938) is an American
author and poet.
. He received his B.A. from Sewanee
an M.A. from Harvard and held a Wallace Stegner Fellowship
at Stanford , where he studied with Yvor Winters
. He was also a Fulbright scholar in Dijon, France. He taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
for many years, where he was also one of the founding editors of the Greensboro Review. He has published several books including a guide to U.S. observatories, a book on the philosopher George Santayana
, a book that examines free verse
poetry and one on the emergence of poetry from music. His poetry and essays have been published in the Southern Review
, the Sewanee Review
, the Virginia Quarterly Review, Shenandoah
, Poetry
, the Mountain Goat, the Southern Poetry Review, Ploughshares
, and the Hudson Review and he has served on the board of editors of Versification. His chapbook of poems, The Musical Constellations, was published by Unicorn Press in the fall of 2007. Among his former students is Claudia Emerson
, the 2006 Pulitzer prize winner for poetry. His online poetry tutorials have been used widely by poetry teachers for almost a decade.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author and poet.
Life
H.T. Kirby-Smith grew up on the Cumberland Plateau, in Sewanee, TennesseeSewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee is an unincorporated locality in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States, treated by the U.S. Census as a census-designated place . The population was 2,361 at the 2000 census...
. He received his B.A. from Sewanee
Sewanee
Sewanee may refer to:* Sewanee, Tennessee* Sewanee: The University of the South* Sewanee Review* Sewanee Natural Bridge* Saint Andrews-Sewanee School-See also:* Suwanee * Suwannee * Swanee...
an M.A. from Harvard and held a Wallace Stegner Fellowship
Stegner Fellowship
The Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. The award is named after American Wallace Stegner , an historian, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and Stanford faculty member who founded the university's creative writing program. Ten...
at Stanford , where he studied with Yvor Winters
Yvor Winters
Arthur Yvor Winters was an American poet and literary critic.-As modernist:Winters's early poetry, which appeared in small avant-garde magazines alongside work by writers like James Joyce and Gertrude Stein, was written in the modernist idiom, and was heavily influenced both by Native American...
. He was also a Fulbright scholar in Dijon, France. He taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...
for many years, where he was also one of the founding editors of the Greensboro Review. He has published several books including a guide to U.S. observatories, a book on the philosopher George Santayana
George Santayana
George Santayana was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. A lifelong Spanish citizen, Santayana was raised and educated in the United States and identified himself as an American. He wrote in English and is generally considered an American man of letters...
, a book that examines free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
poetry and one on the emergence of poetry from music. His poetry and essays have been published in the Southern Review
Southern Review
The Southern Review, a literary journal co-founded in 1935 by Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks and located on the campus of Louisiana State University, publishes fiction, poetry, critical essays, interviews, book reviews, and excerpts from novels in progress by established and emerging writers...
, the Sewanee Review
Sewanee Review
The Sewanee Review is a literary journal established in 1892 and the oldest continuously published periodical of its kind in the United States. It incorporates original fiction and poetry, as well as essays, reviews, and literary criticism...
, the Virginia Quarterly Review, Shenandoah
Shenandoah (magazine)
Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee Review is a major literary magazine published by Washington and Lee University.- History :Originally a student-run quarterly, Shenandoah has evolved into a triannual literary journal edited by author R. T...
, Poetry
Poetry (magazine)
Poetry , published in Chicago, Illinois since 1912, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Published by the Poetry Foundation and currently edited by Christian Wiman, the magazine has a circulation of 30,000 and prints 300 poems per year out of approximately...
, the Mountain Goat, the Southern Poetry Review, Ploughshares
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is an American literary magazine founded in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston...
, and the Hudson Review and he has served on the board of editors of Versification. His chapbook of poems, The Musical Constellations, was published by Unicorn Press in the fall of 2007. Among his former students is Claudia Emerson
Claudia Emerson
Claudia Emerson is an American poet who won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection Late Wife.-Background:...
, the 2006 Pulitzer prize winner for poetry. His online poetry tutorials have been used widely by poetry teachers for almost a decade.
Works
- U.S. Observatories: A Directory and Travel Guide (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1976). ISBN 0442244509 (cloth); ISBN 0442244517 (paper)
- The Origins of Free VerseFree verseFree verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
(University of Michigan Press, 1996). ISBN 0472106988 (cloth); ISBN 0472085654 (paper) - A Philosophical Novelist: George SantayanaGeorge SantayanaGeorge Santayana was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. A lifelong Spanish citizen, Santayana was raised and educated in the United States and identified himself as an American. He wrote in English and is generally considered an American man of letters...
and The Last Puritan (Southern Illinois University Press,1997). ISBN 0809321130 (cloth) - The Celestial Twins: Poetry and Music Through the Ages (University of Massachusetts Press, 1999). ISBN 1558492259 (cloth)
- The Musical Constellations (Unicorn Press, 2007). ISBN 0877753385 (cloth) ISBN 0877753393 (paper)
- Tutorial on Poetic Prosody: Meter and Form http://www.uncg.edu/~htkirbys/intro.html, 2001