Charlie Smith is the author of eight novels and eight books of poetry. He has won numerous awards, grants, and fellowships, including the Aga Khan Prize, the Levinson Prize, the J. Howard and Barbara M. J. Wood Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the New Yorker, the Paris Review, and the New York Times. Five of his books have been named as New York Times Notable Books of the Year or as Editors' Choices. He lives in New York City.