Dave Smith is a poet, essayist and writer of fiction. His most recent books include the essay collection Hunting Men: Reflections on a Life in American Poetry (Louisiana State University Press, 2006), Afield: Writers on Bird Dogs (Skyhorse Press, 2010), which Smith edited with Robert DeMott, and the poetry collection Little Boats, Unsalvaged (Louisiana State University Press, 2005). His forthcoming poetry collection, Hawks on Wires, will be published in fall 2011 by Louisiana State University Press. His honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, The Lyndhurst Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. For eleven years, Smith served as editor of The Southern Review, where he continues to edit The Southern Messenger Poetry Series. Smith is the Elliot Coleman Professor of Poetry in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.