Simon Smith

Simon Smith is an Honorary Professor in the School of English at the University of Kent, where he has taught since 2006. A renowned poet, translator, and essayist, he previously worked at The Poetry Library in London (1991–2007) and held teaching roles at London South Bank University and the Open University. He holds a BA from the University of Kent and a PhD from the University of Glasgow.

His research interests span contemporary poetry (modernist and postmodernist), translation of classical and modern poets (e.g., Catullus, Baudelaire, Rilke), and poetics. He has supervised PhD projects on topics like disability in Medical Humanities and eco-poetics.

Smith’s awards include a Hawthornden Writing Fellowship (2009) and a Costa Poetry Prize nomination for Mercury (2007). He has published nine poetry collections and collaborates with musicians like David Herd and Evan Parker.

His articles and reviews appear in PN Review, Poetry Review, and others, focusing on translation theory and modernist techniques. He has examined PhDs at multiple UK universities and serves as a peer reviewer for NAWE.