Award-winning Writer, Scholar Clint Smith to Present at SUNY Plattsburgh
SUNY Plattsburgh will host a presentation by award-winning American writer, poet and scholar Clint Smith next month as part of its new University Speaker Series.
Smith’s talk, “Memories, Moments, and the Stories that Connect Us,” marks the inaugural event in the series and takes place Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. in 200 Yokum Hall.
Smith is a staff writer for The Atlantic and the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America.” He has authored two books of poetry, including the New York Times bestselling collection “Above Ground” and “Counting Descent.”
Additionally, Smith’s essays, poems and scholarly writing have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review, the Harvard Educational Review and elsewhere.
Part of Curriculum
“How the Word is Passed” is currently part of the curriculum for SUNY Plattsburgh students enrolled in the honors seminar "Democracy and Education: Banned Books," led by English professor and Redcay Honors Program director, Dr. Tracie Church Guzzio.
“The book wrestles with the complexity of remembering America's history, especially at a time when what constitutes history is so politically charged,” Guzzio said. “I think students can investigate their own responses to these concerns by following Smith on his personal journey to understanding the past.
“Instead of learning about history in a classroom textbook or lecture, they can walk with him to these historical sites; listen to his conversations with the public, tour guides, museum directors and educators; and see the process of composing public history,” she said. “Students are especially thrilled by the idea of having a writer that they are reading come to campus.”
A former National Poetry Slam champion and a recipient of the Jerome J. Shestack Prize from the American Poetry Review, Smith earned his Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College and his doctorate from Harvard University. He is the host of the YouTube series “Crash Course Black American History,” and his forthcoming book, “Just Beneath the Soil: World War II Through the Eyes of Its Last Witnesses,” will be published in 2027.
Speaker Series Support
The University Speaker Series will provide an annual public lecture through fall 2030 and is made possible by charitable support from Cerise Oberman, SUNY Distinguished Librarian emeritus and former dean of Library and Information Services, and Dr. Larry Soroka, professor emeritus of expeditionary studies. Additional support comes from the Plattsburgh College Foundation; Office of the President; Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and the Office of Institutional Advancement.
In addition, support for the inaugural lecture came from alumni Thomas ’70 and Marie ’72 Hermes.
“Some of our most cherished memories from our years at the college are the evenings spent in the audience of The Presidents’ Speaker Series,” Oberman and Soroka said in a joint statement. “For 13 years, that series did something special; it brought our campus and community together around the power of ideas, sparking conversations that lingered long after the speakers left the stage.
“We are excited to think that the new University Speaker Series will create those same kinds of memorable moments for today’s students, faculty and community, connecting Plattsburgh with thinkers and voices shaping our world right now.”
Registration for the event, which is free and open to the public, is requested by visiting alumni.plattsburgh.edu/clintsmith. For more information on Smith, visit www.clintsmithiii.com.
