Bio
Simon A. Smith teaches English and debate to high school seniors. His fiction has appeared in many journals, including Hobart, Whiskey Island, Juked, and New World Writing. His stories have aired on Chicago Public Radio and been printed in the Chicago Reader and Newcity. In 2018 he published his first book, Son of Soothsayer (New Meridian Arts). His second novel, Wellton County Hunters, was released in January of 2022 (Adelaide Books). He lives in Chicago with his wife and son.
Praise for Wellton County Hunters
A stirring, heartwarming yarn about small-town misfits finding their people and purpose. Wellton County has arrived on the map, and I can't wait to go back.
- Chris L. Terry, author of Zero Fade and Black Card
"An indelible cast and razor-sharp prose invigorate this quietly absorbing tale." Kirkus Review
Purchase Wellton County Hunters
Praise for Son of Soothsayer
The danger of blind optimism is often underestimated, but in this book, the threat is tangible and urgent. Smith does an impressive job building the menacing facets, creating suspense while also allowing readers the relief of laughing at the characters' pratfalls along the way. A perfect book for this moment, when it feels impossible to ignore the shifting dynamics of politics and community. Here is a new lens to peer through in search of that elevated empathy and understanding.
- Jac Jemc, author of The Grip of It and My Only Wife
"Delightfully reminiscent of Cruddy by Lynda Barry, Smith's gift for colorful description and propulsive storytelling is intoxicating." Ben Tanzer, author of Be Cool and SEX AND DEATH
"Funny, touching, insightful, and ultimately wise, Simon A. Smith's Son of Soothsayer is a novel that delights."
Terrell Isselhard - Windy City Review
Praise for The Way We Sleep
If you want to find the humor and surreal and magical and onieric and grisly and tragic and beautiful in life and sleep and the spaces in between, be sure to check out The Way We Sleep. You will fall completely and hopelessly in love with these stories. So order a copy, then three more for friends and family.
- Heavy Feather Review - Edward J. Rathke