Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

Bruce Smith Wins Residency in Rome

Tuesday, October 28, 2014, By Sarah Scalese
Share
College of Arts and Sciences

Bruce Smith visited Rome about 20 years ago. Now he can spend seven weeks in the Eternal City, known for its abundant ancient buildings and artifacts; exquisite art; and dramatic history.

Bruce Smith

Bruce Smith

Smith, a critically acclaimed poet and professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a Rome Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome (AAR).

He was selected for his “exemplary work and contribution to poetry,” AAR said in a letter to Smith. “We are excited about the potential of your critical presence in the AAR community, particularly your poetry’s inspiring recollections of musical form, and interrogations of near and long-term history.”

In discussing his award, Smith quoted Lord Byron, the English poet who lived in Rome in 1817.

“O Rome, my country! City of the soul! The orphans of the heart must turn to thee,” Smith said, quoting from Lord Byron’s narrative poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.”

Smith has not confirmed when he will visit Rome; the award lets him choose a time before May 2018. He will work on a project of his choosing. Smith will also have access to the academy’s library, special access to historic sites and walks through Rome’s streets with scholars.

“Most of my time will be writing,” Smith said. “I’m going to explore Rome as if I had a dream about it once and am revisiting that dream.”

The AAR was founded in 1894 and is the United States’ oldest overseas school for independent research. Smith will be among 30 fellows AAR hosts each year in disciplines including ancient, medieval, Renaissance and modern studies; and the visual arts, literature, musical composition, historic preservation, architecture and design. He was chosen from 800 applicants.

“The MFA Program at Syracuse is one of the elite programs in the country, and Bruce is a good example of the writers who teach here and bring the program its prestige,” says Christopher Kennedy, director of Syracuse’s M.F.A. program in creative writing. “It’s great to see the academy recognize Bruce’s contributions to the art of poetry.”

Recent AAR residents have included Toni Morrison, novelist and editor; Stephen Greenblatt, literary critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning author; George Lewis, composer and trombone player; and Carrie Mae Weems, a visual artist and photographer who lives in Syracuse.

In 2012, Smith won the William Carlos Williams Award, presented by the Poetry Society of America for his latest book, “Devotions” (University of Chicago Press, 2011). He was also a finalist for the National Book Award (NBA), the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for the same book.

Smith is the author of five other volumes of poetry, including “The Other Lover” (University of Chicago Press, 2000), which was a finalist for both the NBA and Pulitzer Prize.

Smith attended Bucknell University, where he earned an M.A. in English and worked at the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg. He has taught at Tufts, Boston and Harvard universities, on the West Coast at Portland State and Lewis & Clark College, and at University of Alabama before coming to Syracuse in 2002.

He has been a fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center and won the Discovery/The Nation prize. In 2000, he was a Guggenheim fellow and has twice been a recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts. In 2010, he received an award in literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Smith says he’s delighted by the AAR award. ”You are selected for the award by the ACR, and that feels like a deep wish granted by someone with a wand,” he says.

 

 

  • Author

Sarah Scalese

  • Recent
  • Funding Expands for Newhouse Professors’ Work on Technology to Combat Fake News
    Wednesday, May 18, 2022, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences Departments Come Together on Diversity and Engagement Initiatives
    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, By News Staff
  • As the School of Education’s Italy Program Returns, Sara Jo Soldovieri ’18, G’19 Reflects on Its Influence
    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, By Martin Walls
  • Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising Team Helps Match Students With Unique Experiences That Enhance Their Studies
    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, By Jen Maser
  • COVID-19 Update: Public Health Protocols for Summer 2022
    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, By News Staff

More In Arts & Culture

Syracuse University Art Museum Piloting Object-Based Teaching and Research Faculty Fellows Program

Faculty from all disciplines are invited to apply for a pilot Faculty Fellows Program being hosted this summer by the Syracuse University Art Museum. The program focuses on object-based teaching and research. It is both a way for the art…

Innovator Lorrie Vogel ’88 to Deliver 2022 VPA Convocation Address

Innovator Lorrie Vogel ’88 will deliver the 2022 convocation address to bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) at the college’s convocation ceremony on Saturday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the stadium….

M.F.A. Exhibition ‘Steady/Retcon’ to be Exhibited on New York City’s Governors Island

  Master of fine arts (M.F.A.) candidates in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) are presenting the thesis exhibition “Steady/Retcon” over two weekends in May at the Syracuse University Governors Island House, 407A Colonels Row, Governors Island, New…

Department of Drama Presents ‘As You Like It’

The Department of Drama presents the final show of the 2021/2022 season with “As You Like It,” a ravishing new musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic story by Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery. The production, directed by Rodney Hudson, will perform…

Movie Based on SU Press Book ‘Harry Haft: Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano’ Debuts

“The Survivor,” a movie based on the Alan Scott Haft book, “Harry Haft: Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano,” debuted on HBO and HBO Max on Wednesday, April 27. It is being released on Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.