Bio

I’m the one on the end, still trying to unfurl her flag. See MyRetrospect Feature Story.

LOUISE FARMER SMITH, descendent of dugout-dwellers and chip-gatherers, draws from wells deep in Oklahoma's past as well as from high rises in New York and back rooms on Capitol Hill.  She writes short stories about the practical problems of life: an alcoholic professor, a single mother trying to date or a dying WWI soldier who falls in love on the way home.

Smith was a PEN/New England Discovery and read “Expiration Date” at Radcliffe College after being introduced by Jack Beatty, Senior Editor at The Atlantic Monthly. From there it was several years before Virginia Quarterly Review accepted “Sugar House,” commenting, “Remarkable piece, very well made, multilayered, unpretentiously and effectively symbolic, as well as affecting without a trace of sentimentality. A rich, poignant parable of control.”

She has won prizes from Potomac Review, Antietam Review and Glimmer Train. Bellevue Literary Review nominated, “Return to Lincoln,” a story in One Hundred Years of Marriage, for a 2005 Pushcart Prize.  "Voice of Experience" was nominated for a 2014 Pushcart Prize by CROSSTIMBERS, "Faithful Elders" was nominated for a 2018 Pushcart Prize by Upper Hand Press.  Her work has been supported by The Ragdale Foundation and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She was a 2005 Bread Loaf Contributor.

As a former teacher Smith loves to talk about writing and is glad to meet with book clubs, workshops or creative writing classes. One Hundred Years of Marriage now has discussion suggestions in the back for book clubs. Contact her by clicking Contact link.

Smith grew up in Norman, Oklahoma, graduated from Norman High, received a BA in Letters from O.U. and two masters degrees from Yale and Goddard. She has worked as a high school and college English teacher, trained as a family therapist and served on a U.S. Congressman’s staff. She lives on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, an endless source of material.

Her books:

One Hundred Years of Marriage

"I loved this book...a wonderfully satisfying work of imagination as well as a perceptive dose of social history.
  —Gail Godwin, author of A Southern Family, A Mother and Two Daughters
  and most recently, Grief Cottage

Cadillac, Oklahoma

"On every page of this smart collection, Smith’s good humor and light touch brighten the dusty landscape.”
  —Bonnie Jo Campbell, bestselling author of the story collection Mothers, Tell Your Daughters
  and the National Book Award Finalist, American Salvage.

The Woman Without a Voice

"Louise Farmer Smith has written a part of history we aren’t taught in classrooms....The Woman Without a Voice is a heartbreaking, moving, and ultimately inspiring memoir about the strength of women.
   —JoAnna Woolridge Wall, J.D. Lecturer, Women’s and Gender Studies Program University of Oklahoma

"...A compelling tale and an inspiration to anyone considering writing their family’s often complex and difficult history.”
  —Lisa Kindrick, Librarian, Geneological Center, Albuquerque