TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A University of Alabama professor was recently awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for academic or artistic achievement.
Bruce Smith, a poet and associate professor of English in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, was one of 182 recipients awarded the fellowship from a pool of 2,900 applicants. The fellowships are awarded to men and women who demonstrate exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or outstanding creative ability in the arts.
Smith is the second individual from UA’s creative writing program to receive the coveted award in two years. Robin Behn, also a poet and associate professor of English, received the fellowship in 1999.
Smith is also one of only five individuals in the running for the National Book Award in poetry for his most recent book titled “The Other Lover,” published by the University of Chicago Press. The winners in each category, which includes poetry, fiction, non-fiction and young peoples’ literature, will receive a $10,000 cash award and a crystal sculpture. Winners will be announced at a Nov. 15 gala event in New York City, at which author and actor Steve Martin will serve as host.
Smith, who earned his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Bucknell University, is using the fellowship (spanning one year, beginning in August) to work on a book of poetry, as well as a novel about the sport of football and American culture. He is residing in Boston during his time away from the University.
Other honors Smith has received during his career include two National Endowment for the Arts awards, and two awards from the Artist Foundation of Massachusetts. Smith teaches in the creative writing program at UA and is the author of three previous books of poetry, including “Silver and Information” (a National Poetry Series selection), “The Common Wages,” and “Mercy Seat.”
New York Sen. John Guggenheim and his wife established the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1925, as a memorial to their son who died in 1922. The Foundation offers fellowships to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts.
The College of Arts and Sciences is UA’s largest division, and the largest public liberal arts college in Alabama, with about 5,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students. The College has received national recognition for academic excellence, and its students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including 14 Rhodes Scholarships, 14 Goldwater Scholarships, seven Truman Scholarships, and as members on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.
Contact
Lance M. Skelly, UA Office of Media Relations, 205/348-3782