Poet Dave Smith to read nov. 30

Dave Smith, a leading voice in contemporary American poetry and co-editor of the Southern Review, will read from his work Nov. 30 as this fall's Peters Rushton Lecturer in English at U.Va.

Smith, the Boyd Professor of English at Louisiana State University and a novelist and critic as well as award-winning poet, will read at 8 p.m. at the University Bookstore. The event is free and open to the public.

Smith is the author of some 18 books of poetry including most recently The Wick of Memory: New and Selected Poems 1974-2000. A 1965 alumnus of U.Va. and a native of Portsmouth, Smith often explores his southern and Virginia heritage in his poetry. Among the many honors he has received for his work are a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship and an American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award.