Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1970-2018 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
13 boxes (1.5 metres) textual records; 70 photographs; 16 CDs; 1 cassette tape
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Russell Smith was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in Halifax, Canada. He began his career as a writer in Toronto after studying at universities in France and Canada.
His first novel, How Insensitive, was published in 1994 and nominated for the Governor General's Award, the Trillium Award, and the Chapters/Books In Canada First Novel Award, and became a bestseller in Canada. He is also the author of the novel Noise (1998), an illustrated fable, The Princess and the Whiskheads (2002), and story collection, Young Men (2011).
He has written for The New York Review of Books, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, NOW, and many other publications. He has also appeared on television and radio programs, including serving as the host of CBC Radio One program “And Sometimes Y.’
He has taught creative writing in the MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph, and at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Several of his former students have published novels and memoirs. He has been writer-in-residence at the Toronto Reference Library and at Berton House in Dawson City, Yukon.
He is currently an acquiring editor of fiction and non-fiction at Dundurn Press.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gift of Russell Smith, 2019.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Collection consists of materials pertaining to Russell Smith’s work as a a writer, including manuscript drafts of both published and unpublished works, newspaper columns, magazine articles, and media appearances. The collection also contains articles about Smith and his work, correspondence with other writers, and materials relating to Smith’s childhood, personal life, and education.
Collection consists of 8 series:
- Early and Personal Life
- Correspondence with Authors
- Speeches
- Published Books
- Unpublished Works
- Newspaper/Magazine Articles and Other Media
- Articles about Russell Smith
- Publication Collection
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Material may be requested in person at the Fisher Library Reference Desk, or in advance using our online stack retrieval request form: https://aeon.library.utoronto.ca.