Stephen James Smith, born in Dublin, is an Irish poet, writer, performer, playwright, and educator. Their short poetry films have captivated millions, earning them the opportunity to perform alongside notable names like Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Patti Smith, Bono (U2), Imelda May, and Glen Hansard. With close to 1,000 gigs worldwide over the past 20 years in locations from Ballydehob to Bangkok, and significant performances at venues like Glastonbury, the Radio City Music Hall, and the Nuyorican Poetry Café (New York), the Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris), and the Barbican and Palladium (London). Stephen has demonstrated a commanding presence on the stage. As a recording artist, Stephen’s work has been lauded both nationally and internationally, leading to Stephen being dubbed “Dublin’s unofficial poet laureate." His creations have been extensively published, translated into eight languages, and have received numerous awards and nominations. Stephen also makes regular contributions to Irish TV and radio cultural programmes. Acknowledging that success is a blend of luck, hard work, and subjectivity, Stephen invites you to form your own opinions about their work.
Connect with them on social media @sjswords or explore their poetry here: https://linktr.ee/sjswords
Hello! I’m Stephen, a writer (who happens to be dyslexic, making for an interesting journey) from Dublin, currently residing in Wexford Town, down in the Sunny South East. Writing a bio can be a peculiar task. Although I engage in various artistic endeavours, your perception of them (and their quality) is, of course, entirely subjective.
Below is a comprehensive list detailing my experiences and ventures in publications, discography, awards, grants, tours, artist residencies, professional memberships, screenings, reviews & quotes, television appearances, voiceovers, commissions & copywriting, translations, education, and volunteering.
In essence, I’m a doer... embodying roles like writer, actor, collaborator, curator, coordinator, dancer, educator, event manager, facilitator, literary producer, performer, and poet - an artistic adventurer, if you will!
This bio/CV is perpetually a work-in-progress, akin to all of us. I hope it suffices for now and should you have any questions or curiosities, please don’t hesitate to ask.
For continuous updates, you can revisit this Google Doc link: shorturl.at/egEJ5.
For inquiries, please reach me at: info@stephenjamessmith.com.
All other links can be found here: https://linktr.ee/sjswords.
Grá Mór,
Stephen James Smith
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
Irish Writers’ Union
Praxis: The Artists' Union of Ireland
Irish Writers' Centre
Irish Music Rights Organisation
Peer Panel, The Arts Council (An Chomhairle Ealaíon)
Mentor, Minding Creative Minds
ArtLinks
Words Ireland
Dyslexia Association of Ireland
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE:
Woven, Hambly & Hambly, Los Angeles, California, 2023
Wexford Arts Centre, 2023
South East Technical University, Calmast, Creative Ireland, 2022
St. Patrick’s Festival, The Words That Bind Us, Trinity Comprehensive School, Ballymun, 2019
National Neighbourhood, South East Area Project, Dublin Culture Company, 2019
Dunmaise Arts Centre, Laois County Council, 2018
Creative Space 4, Axis Ballymun, 2018
National Neighbourhood, Dublin’s Culture Connects, 2017
National Neighbourhood Project, South Central Area, Dublin's Culture Connects, 2016
AWARDS, GRANTS, BURSARIES, NOMINATIONS, CURATION, JUDGING, ETC…
Curator: Fancy a Lift, Well Festival of Arts & Wellbeing, 2023
Winner: Group Award, Garda Youth Awards, A Playful City (Swan Youth Services), DMR North Central Garda Youth Awards, Croke Park / NEIC, 2022
Curator: Therapy Sessions, First Fortnight Festival, 2012 - Present
Nomination: Top 10 Albums of the Year, so far…, Irish Times, Tony Clayton-Lea, 2022
Grant: Culture Ireland, ‘11 (USA), ‘16 (Asia), ‘18 (UK), ‘20 (EU), ‘22 (UK), ‘23 (UK)
Award: Literature Bursary, The Arts Council, 2020
Grant: Music Industry Stimulus Package, FMC, 2020
Award: Covid-19 Response, The Arts Council, 2020
Judge: Cruinniú na nÓg Poetry Competition, National Print Museum, 2020
Winner: Northern Ireland Music Prize, Ryan Vail & Elma Orchestra (Borders), 2019
Nominated: Northern Ireland Music Prize, Runabay (Between the Lines), 2019
Chairperson: Dublin Fringe Festival, Judging Panel, 2019
Ambassador: Poetry Day Ireland, 2018
Winner: My Ireland, Best Art House, Fastnet Film Festival, 2017
Nominated: Man of the Year, SHEmazing, 2017
50 Incredible People Who Are Shaping Modern Ireland, Marie Madden, Lovin.ie, 2017
Winner: Best Performance, Stanzas Poetry Festival, Limerick, 2016
Nobel Call: The Abbey Theatre, 2014
Winner: The Gardener, 4th DOCtorCLIP Roma Poetry Film Festival 2013
Captain: Dublin Poetry Slam team, Bristol Poetry Festival, 2012
Nominated: Dublin Fringe Festival ‘Little Gem’ Award, 2011
Winner: Literary Death Match Dublin Ep.4, 2011
Nomination: Best Albums of the Year, Aris & Go, Hot Press, Oliver Sweeney, 2011
Winner: Writing4all Slam Final, 2010
Winner: Cúirt Literary Festival Poetry Grand Slam, 2009
Runner-up: All Ireland Poetry Slam Final, 2008
Runner-up: BBC Radio 4 Irish Poetry Slam Final, 2007
Winner: People’s Prize, I am a Lagan Tour, 2007
DISCOGRAPHY:
See No Evil, Stephen James Smith, Nymphs & Thugs / Reckless Records, 2022
The Busk (Live at St. Patrick’s Cathedral) - Compilation, Various Artists, CLTV, 2022
Tell It to a Tree, EP, 2022
Three Men Talking, Radio Play, 2021
Borders, Ryan Vail & Elma Orkestra, Quiet Arch Records, 2019
Between the Lines, Runabay, 2019
LovesVinyl, Issue 01, Dublin Vinyl, 2019
An Equivalent Exchange (Live) Vinyl, Kormac & The Irish Chamber Orchestra - 2018
The Art of Pretending to Swim (extended edition), Ada, Villagers, Domino, 2018
Street Lights (in aid of Simon, Focus and McVerry), Various Artists, 2018
Other Voices, Playlist 15, Various Artists, 2017
In My Garden, The Lazy Band, 2016
National Cancer Strategy, Jinx Lennon, 2012
Arise & Go, Smith & Reilly, 2011
The Poetry Bus Magazine, Issue 3, 2011
The Rising Irish - NYC, Culture Ireland, 2011
Nighthawks, The Second Oxfam EP, 2010
The Best of the Batch a Baker’s Dozen, The Brownbread Mixtape, 2009
Best of The International Bar Open Mic, 2008
COMMISSIONS & COPYWRITING:
Filíocht bhéil na Gaeilge / Gaelic Oral Tradition, 2023
All That Rise, Cursed Murphy, National Opera House, 2022
Mother Tongues, Red Shoe Productions, Sky Arts, 2022
Ode to the Olympia, Three Ireland, 2021
Imagine Yourself a Map (Addressing The Nations), Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris, 2021
Only for This, Shorelines Festival, 2021
Imagine The Possibilities, Fighting Words & RTÉ's After School Hub, 2020
The Angel's Share, Bushmills, 2021
Russian Fruit, The Arts Council, 2021
Our Darkest Night, Púca Festival, 2020
Step By Step, St. Patrick's Festival, 2020
This Is Who We Are, Epic2020 Group, 2020
May You, Avolon, 2020
Synonymous with Strength, Gasyard Féile Festival, 2020
How Aria?, Irish National Opera, 2020
Collectively Counting, HSE/NOSP, 2020
Unite by Standing Apart, Aviva, 2020
1891, Jim Gavin, Dublin GAA, 2019
As Light Between Our Bodies Moves, National Gallery of Ireland, 2019
What If, Focus Ireland, 2019
Rothco/Tesco, 2019
EVERYthing, Science Foundation Ireland, 2019
Now & Then, Sunday Miscellany 50, RTÉ, 2019
It’s That Time Again, RTÉ, 2018
Words The Bind Us, St. Patrick's Festival, 2018
Hung on a Comma, Inua Ellams (Poet in Residence), Tower of London, 2018
This Community, London Irish Centre, 2018
Nine Nine Lines, Poetry Day Ireland, Poetry Ireland, 2018
Earned the Spotlight, FAI/Aviva, 2018
Bring it Home, IRFU/Aviva, 2018
We Must Create, Creative Ireland, 2018
The Story of Us, RTÉ, 2018
From… To…, A Playful City, 2017
Our Place Beyond the Bridge, South Dublin Libraries, National Planning Framework, 2017
Iomramh, Listowel Writers' Week, 2017
Head Ransom 2.0, Dublinia & Follow the Vikings Create Europe, 2016
My Ireland, St. Patrick's Festival, 2016
Dublin In The Coming Times, Roddy Doyle, 2016
Dublin You Are, Dublin2020, European Capital of Culture, 2015
Bram Stoker Festival, 2013
Cause & Effect, Concern Ireland, 2012
FILM SCREENINGS:
United Nations Network, International Migration Review Forum, 2022
My Ireland, Fastnet Film Festival, 2017
Rome Poetry Film Festival 2013
Underground Cinema Film Festival, 2013
10 Days in Dublin Film Festival 2013
The Belfast Film Festival 2012
The Waterford Film Festival 2012
Zebra International Film Festival, Berlin, 2012
Galway Film Fleadh, 2012
Corona, Cork Film Festival 2012
TELEVISION:
Buille, TG4, 2023
Slí na mBeaglaoich, TG4, 2022
Future Island, RTÉ 1, 2022
Voice of Ireland, Sky Arts, 2021
The Late Late Show, Christmas Busk Special, RTÉ 1, 2020
BBC Arts NI Presents… Borders, BBC 2 Northern Ireland, 2020
Supporting The Arts, RTÉ, 2020
Ireland's Favourite Folk Song, RTÉ, 2019
Today Show, RTÉ 1, 2018
The Late Late Show, In London Special, RTÉ 1, 2018
News2Day, RTÉ 2, 2018
The Imelda May Show, New Year's Eve Special, RTÉ 1, 2017
Other Voices, RTÉ 2, 2017
The Six O'Clock Show, TV3, 2017
The One Where Kids Talk, RTÉ Jr, 2017
Ireland AM, TV3, 2017
St. Patrick's Festival Highlights, RTÉ2, 2017
News2Day, RTÉ 2, 2012
VOICEOVERS:
Behan Ó Beacháin (Brendan Behan): The Confirmation Suit, RTÉ Radio 1, 2023
Fancy a Lift?, Well Festival, Waterford Healing Arts Trust, 2023
Gas Networks Ireland, 2022
Mother Tongues, Red Shoe Productions, Sky Arts, 2022
Ode to the Olympia, Three Ireland, 2021
Intel, 2021
Dublin Samaritans, 2021
Púca Festival, 2020
Step By Step, St. Patrick's Festival, 2020
This Is Who We Are, Epic2020 Group, 2020
Collectively Counting, HSE/NOSP, 2020
Unite by Standing Apart, Aviva, 2020
First Fortnight, RTÉ, 2020
No Stigma, St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, 2020
DublinTown.ie, 2020
National Gallery of Ireland, 2019
Science Foundation Ireland, 2019
Department of Justice, 2019
It’s That Time Again, RTÉ, 2018
This Community, London Irish Centre, 2018
Earned the Spotlight, FAI/Aviva, 2018
Bring it Home, IRFU/Aviva, 2018
We Must Create, Creative Ireland, 2018
CDI (Childhood Development Initiative, 2018
Head Ransom 2.0, Dublinia & Follow the Vikings Create Europe, 2016
My Ireland, St. Patrick's Festival, 2016
Generation F’d, RTÉ 2, 2016
Dublin You Are, Dublin2020, European Capital of Culture, 2015
Dublin In Words, Fáilte Ireland, 2014
The Edge of Town, TV3, 2014
Cause & Effect, Concern Ireland, 2012
VISUAL ARTIST (COLLABORATIONS):
Steve Simpson, Mary Plunkett, Gary Robinson, Shane Sutton, Karen Hickey, Hilary Seriously.
STREET ART:
Movember: Conversation Piece - We Stand Together, St. Audoen's Church, Dublin 8, 2020
A Playful City, Shane Sutton & Cormac Dillion (Mack Sign), Benburb Street, Dublin 1, 2017
UpStart, Election Poster Campaign, Kildare Street, 2011
TRANSLATIONS:
Japanese, Malay, Spanish, Italian, Slovenian, Polish, Dutch, and Russian.
PUBLICATIONS:
Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About, Stephen James Smith, Kalle Ryan, Colm Keegan, 10th Anniversary Edition, Script, Dublin: Self-published, 2021.
Twilight Together: Portraits Of Ireland At Home, Ruth Medjber, Photography Book, Dublin: Doubleday Ireland, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, Collectively Counting, 2020.
#UntitledThree, Kevin Williamson & Michael Pedersen, Issue 3, Anthology, Edinburgh: Neu! Reekie! Publishing and Polygon, an imprint of Birlinn Ltd., Dublin You Are, Page 119, 2020.
Here Now, Stephen James Smith, Poetry Pamphlet, Dublin: Self-published, 2019.
Miscellany 50: Fifty Years of Sunday Miscellany, Clíodhna Ní Anluain, Anthology, Dublin: New Island, A Space Odyssey, Page 166, 2019.
Verse 2021: Leaving Certificate Poetry, David Hopkins, 2nd Edition, Textbook, Kerry: Educate.ie, Night Sky & Butterfly, Page 356, 2019.
Close Encounters Of Poetry vol. 2, Issue 7, Anthology - Japanese Translations by Prof. Hitomi Nakamura, Japan: 'Te-Watashi' Poetry Journal, Page 82-85, 2019.
#詩 #アイルランド人 #話し言葉 @makotoidadsuka_ て、わた し ～ 日本の詩と世界の詩 ～ @tewatashidesign て、わた し ～ 日本の詩と世界の詩 ～ http://tewatashibooks.com
Reading the Future: New Writing from Ireland, Alan Hayes, Anthology, Dublin: Arlen House, I’ve Had Lovers, Page 641, 2018.
Flare, Éamon Mag Uidhir, Issue 7, Zine, Dublin: The Sunflower Sessions, Tooling Up, 2018.
Totally Dublin, Michael McDermott, Magazine, Dublin: Dublin You Are, 10/09/2018.
Fear Not, Stephen James Smith, Poetry Collection, Dublin: Arlen House, 2018.
Portrait of a Century, Kim Haighton, Photography Book, Dublin: The Lilliput Press, My Ireland, 2017.
Looking at the Stars: An Anthology of Irish Writing in Aid of the Dublin Simon Community, Kerrie O’Brien, Anthology, Dublin: Munster Literature Centre, Relit Flame, Page 81, 2016.
Irish Examiner: The Tuesday Poem, Patrick Cotter, Newspaper, Cork: Relit Flame, 17/11/2015.
Spoken Word a Dublino, Bianca Saglietto, Anthology - Translations, Novi Ligure - Italy: Edizioni Joker, 2014.
Love’s Peripeteias, Micheál Ó Coinn, Anthology: Visionary Press, Enchanted, Page 12, 2014.
New Planet Cabaret, Dave Lordan, Anthology, Dublin: New Island, Tooling Up, Page 174, 2013.
Red Lamp Black Piano: The Cáca Milis Cabaret Anthology, Helena Mulkerns, Anthology, Dublin / New York: Tara Press, The Gardener, Page 44, 2013.
Census: The Third Seven Towers Anthology, Eamonn Lynskey, Anthology, Dublin: Seven Towers, How Is She?, Page 180, 2012
30 Under 30, Elizabeth Reapy, Anthology, Galway: Doire Press, Monologue Extract from Three Men Talking, Page 131, 2012.
Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About, Stephen James Smith, Kalle Ryan, Colm Keegan, 1st Edition, Script, Dublin: Self-published, 2012.
The Poetry Bus Magazine, Peadar O’Donoghue, Issue 2, Zine, Dublin: Poetry Bus Press, On The Bus, Page 62, 2011.
Dime Zine, Sarah Bracken, Zine, Dublin: Independent Art Press, Anto for Taoiseach, 2011.
UpStart - Slam Poetry: American Superstar Wrestling, Issue #4, Poetry Pamphlet, Dublin: Wurm Press, On The Bus, Page 10, 2011.
The Rising Irish, Stephen James Smith, Poetry Pamphlet, Dublin: GlórPress, Anto for Taoiseach, Page 2, 2011.
Emergency Verse: Poets in Defence of the Welfare State, Alan Morrison, Anthology, London: Caparison - Recusant, Signing Your Life Away, Page 223, 2010.
The Poetry Bus Magazine, Peadar O’Donoghue, Issue 1, Zine, Dublin: Poetry Bus Press, To the Death of Romance, Page 57, 2010.
Baby Beef Heart, Sarah Bracken, Issue 3, Zine, Dublin: Independent Art Press, Ticking Clock, Page 10, 24/09/2008.
EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS:
BA (Hons), English Media & Cultural Studies, FETAC Level 8, DL821, IADT, 2011-2015
Major Award in Media Production, FETAC Level 5, MIC Project, Belcamp Resource Centre, 2010
(Sound Engineering, Black and White Photography, Digital Photography, Digital Editing, Media Analysis, Graphic Design, Communication, and Radio Broadcasting)
Special Needs Assistant, FETAC Level 5, Kylemore College, 2009
Care of the Older Person, FETAC Level 5, Kylemore College, 2009
Business Plan Development for SMEs, FETAC Level 5, FÁS Tallaght Training Centre, 2007
Sound Engineering, City & Guilds, Pulse Recording Studios, 2004
VOLUNTEERING:
First Fortnight, 2012 - Present
Wexford Tidy Towns, 2021 - Present
Fighting Words, 2013 - 2015
Cheeverstown House, 2009 - 2012
Drama Society, IADT, 2012 - 2014
Amnesty International Café, 2006 - 2008
REVIEWS & QUOTES:
“Stephen James Smith, Dublin’s unofficial poet laureate.”
RORY CARROLL, The Guardian, 03/11/2019
“Poet Stephen James Smith manages to tread the line between knowing and clever, and full of heart and raw emotion.”
JENNIFER O’CONNELL, The Irish Times, 15/02/2017
“Passionate, witty, just plain great; this man’s voice hops right off the page.”
RODDY DOYLE
“Here are poems fuelled by the raw urgency of language leaping to meet the world — and here, too, are poems of a tender heart, always willing to reach out, to try to understand. Stephen James Smith is a poet of uncommon energy, utterly alive to the here and now.”
PAULA MEEHAN
“New Irish Poetry Urgently Needed… Stephen James Smith answers the call!”
CHRISTY MOORE
“Stephen James Smith, who is arguably Ireland’s finest spoken word act right now.”
STUART CLARK, HotPress, 25/08/2022
“Stephen James Smith is a writer gifted with empathy, passion and the rare mastery required to transmute emotion into art. I've seen him recite his poetry on a suburban Chicago street to a rapt audience of cops and homeless people for the sheer joy of sharing words. His poems are crafted with care, with great skill, and most importantly, with love.”
DONAL RYAN
“Stephen James Smith is a poet whose sympathies lie with “the addicted and the convicted”, often responding to what he finds on life’s margins. His sharp-edged forceful language derives from his gifts as a performance poet and his fearlessness in looking into the eye of his subject matter. His poems get their charge, as well as their shape and substance, from his use of demotic rhythms, the vividness of his vernacular and his emotional directness – in the midst of the toughness of his work, he also knows where to find the tender spot.”
GERARD SMYTH
“Stephen James Smith: See No Evil – The poetry and raw emotional soundscape are a perfect marriage. I can feel myself walking wet streets, in trysts with imagined strangers. I smell the moment, I can hear the moment. My mind runs vividly with this album in a way that music often doesn’t do for me. F**king brilliant.”
WALLIS BIRD, The Irish Times, 10/12/2022
“These are the tales of an artist who’s clearly spent enough time in both the darkness and the light to understand the complexities of the space in-between. Play the album in your headphones the next time you’re walking through Dublin, and let yourself fall in love with the place and its people over and over again – despite it all.”
LUCY O'TOOLE, HotPress, 01/04/2022
“Smith, meanwhile, has made a name for himself for his role in modernising the art of spoken word and Irish poetry. A world-renowned performer…”
LUCY O'TOOLE, HotPress, 19/07/2019
“Dublin poet Stephen James Smith is no stranger to anyone who has been saving their headaches with his intelligent words and direct messages over the past ten years.”
TONY CLAYTON-LEA, Business Post Magazine, 27/02/2022
“Making his presence felt in a community, being an ambassador for a community, serving a community – these things are important to Smith, who as well as having a serious gift for words also has a gritty survivor’s instinct.”
TONY CLAYTON-LEA, The Irish Times, 26/03/2022
“Stephen James Smith, is a leading spoken word performer.”
RORY CARROLL, The Guardian, 24/12/2018
“Smith has enraptured audiences across the planet, from Dingle to New York. There he is hugging Glen Hansard on the red carpet at the Oscar Wilde Awards in LA. Yes, that's the same Stephen James Smith whose poetry is on the syllabus at Western Connecticut State University.”
HILARY A WHITE, Irish Independent, 02/09/2028
“brilliant and witty”
COLM IRWIN, The Guardian, 07/03/2018
“Anyone interested in contemporary spoken-word will know that Stephen James Smith is one of the leading lights of Ireland's contribution to the form.”
TONY CLAYTON-LEA, The Irish Times, 24/11/2018
“Poet and playwright Stephen James Smith has a spectacular way with words and expression.”
KATE DERMOLDER, Lovin.ie, 15/02/2027
“A singular talent!”
MARIE MADDEN, Lovin.ie, 16/07/2017
“Smith is now a recognised artist.”
NIALL BYRNE, Nialler9, 26/06/2018