R. T. Smith's newest book, The Hollow Log Lounge (Illinois, 2003), was selected by Li-Young Lee as winner of the 2004 Maurice English Poetry Prize. His other books include Trespasser, Messenger and Brightwood, all from LSU Press. He has been awarded fellowships from the NEA and the Library of Virginia Poetry Prize. Smith's poems have appeared in The Atlantic, Poetry, Georgia Review, Southern Review, Ploughshares and others. He edits Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review and lives with his wife, poet Sarah Kennedy, in Rockbridge County, Virginia.