Clint Smith, Emerson Collective Fellow, is the author of the narrative nonfiction book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and selected by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2021. He is also the author of the poetry collection Counting Descent, which won the 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. He is a staff writer at the Atlantic.
Selected Work:
- An Intimate History of America: An essay on how many histories we are told happened a long time ago, weren't that long ago at all. It ultimately served as a catalyst for Smith’s book project. (Paris Review, 2017)
- James Baldwin’s Lesson for Teachers in a Time of Turmoil: An essay on how rigorous lessons are not mutually exclusive from culturally and politically relevant ones. (New Yorker, 2017)
- How to Raise a Black Son in America: A TED Talk on childhood advice from Smith’s father and exploring the role race plays in growing up. (TED, 2015)
