Described by the American conceptual poet
Vanessa Place as a “linguistic craftsman”, Frank Smith (born 1968, lives and works in Paris and Los Angeles) is a
writer/poet,
video artist and
filmmaker.
The products of his research, which fuses poetry,
politics and image, have been presented through readings, conferences,
performances, exhibitions, screenings and installations at many festivals, galleries and arts centers.
Frank Smith has published a dozen books so far, including
Guantanamo, which was judged the best poetry book of 2014 by the US-based
Huffington Post and has been adapted for the stage by Eric Vigner, and his writing has appeared in several literary reviews (
Nioques,
If,
Chimères,
Espace(s),
Frog, etc.).
To further his poetical investigations, Frank Smith also works as a video artist; his films were the subject of a retrospective at the Pompidou Centre in 2015 and 2016 (“Hors Pistes” festival).
He is a long-serving
radio producer at France Culture, where he produced
La poésie n'est pas une solution broadcast, and with Philippe Langlois, co-directed the cult sound engineering show,
L'Atelier de création radiophonique (Creative Radio Workshop) from 2001 to 2011. He has also written numerous dramas and documentaries for radio.
Frank Smith is also an editor: with
Antoine Dufeu he co-edits the critical and analytical poetry review
RIP, launched in September 2016, and directs the
“ZagZig” collection of artists' books and CDs that he established at
Dis Voir publishing house (works by
Laurie Anderson,
Ryoji Ikeda,
Christian Marclay…).
