Researching Steven Smith

Smith served on the high Texas court from November 2002 through January 2005.

A fifth-generation Texan, Smith graduated from Everman High School, which is located in south Tarrant County. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington, where he received a B.B.A. in finance, the first member of his extended family to have graduated from college. Smith attended the University of Texas Law School, where he concentrated on federal law. He graduated with honors in 1986.

After graduation, Smith worked as a bill analyst for the Texas Senate and as a staff attorney, first for the Office of the Texas Secretary of State and then for the Texas Legislative Council. He spent three years at the legislative council and worked on redistricting issues and judicial selection. There he met his wife, the former Susan Hunter, who was also on the legal staff.

"My judicial philosophy probably comes as much from working at the legislature as from anything. ... I developed a real appreciation for what goes into making public policy. The legislature is the policy-making branch. Courts should defer to the legislature, unless there's a clear constitutional reason" otherwise, said Smith.

While he was on the Supreme Court, Smith authored sixteen published opinions, including the court's landmark decision in Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services v. Mega Child Care. His work was lauded by then Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson.

Making his debut during the 1974 VFL season, Smith appeared 203 times for Melbourne and kicked 144 goals until his retirement at the end of the 1985 VFL season. In 1981, Smith won the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal, which is awarded to Melbourne's best and fairest player for the season.

Smith was the first Little League player to play in the VFL and is only one of four footballers to have played 200 VFL/AFL games but not play a final (the other three being Trevor Barker, Gary Hardeman and Geoff Cunningham).

In 2015, Smith was elected President of the Melbourne Cricket Club.

Smith is also known for his vigorous live performances of sound poetry. He has contributed to more than a dozen recordings including Homo Sonorous: An International Anthology of Sound Poetry released by the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Kaliningrad, Russia, (2001), Revolutions, A Compilation of Saskatchewan Sound Works, (2000) and Carnivocal: A Celebration of Sound Poetry (1999). From 1992 to 2000, Smith performed with DUCT, the improvisatory sound and music ensemble he founded. He was also a member of the sound/performance ensemble Owen Sound from 1975 to 1985.

Smith's poetry first appeared in 1972 in the blewointment press anthology, what isint tantrik speshul, and his first chapbook, White Cycle, came out in 1977. In all, he has published nine books of poetry and two volumes of fiction. In 2006, Smith also published a collection of his newspaper profiles of 40 Saskatchewan artists. In 2015 he published "Emanations: Fluttertongue 6" with Toronto's BookThug.

In 1996-1997, Smith served as writer-in-residence at the Saskatoon Public Library. From 1990 to 2008, he was Executive Director of the Sage Hill Writing Experience, a ten-day summer school in Saskatchewan for professional writers. Smith was Director of Literary Arts at the Banff Centre from 2008 to 2014. Since June 2018 he has been Banff Poet Laureate, both in Banff and as of 2020, at-large, carrying out initiatives for Banff and beyond, from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where he now lives.