Neil Smith (born 1964) is a Canadian writer and translator from Montreal, Quebec."Nice and easy does it". Quill & Quire, Winter 2007. His novel Boo, published in 2015,Nicholas Cameron, "Review: Neil Smith's Boo is a novel of tremendous imagination". The Globe and Mail, May 22, 2015. won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction.Ian McGillis, "Neil Smith, Anita Anand, David McGimpsey honoured at QWF Awards". Montreal Gazette, November 19, 2015. Boo was also nominated for a Sunburst AwardErin Balser, "Gemma Files wins 2016 Sunburst Award for "uniquely Canadian" novel". CBC Books, July 13, 2017. and the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award,Becky Robertson, "Awards: Canadian Library Association names 2016 YA Book Award finalists". Quill & Quire, March 2, 2016. and was longlisted for the Prix des libraires du Québec.
Smith published his debut book, the short story collection Bang Crunch, in 2007.John Burns, "Bang Crunch: First fiction by Neil Smith". The Georgia Straight, January 24, 2007. It was chosen as a best book of the year by the Washington Post and The Globe and Mail, won the McAuslan First Book Prize from the Quebec Writers' Federation,"Montreal's Heather O'Neill wins Quebec book prize". CBC Arts, November 22, 2007. and was a finalist for the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. Three stories in the book were also nominated for the Journey Prize.Gordon Bowness, "In print: Neil Smith's Bang Crunch". Daily Xtra, January 31, 2007.
Smith also has a degree in translation and translates from French to English.Michael Posner, "Getting bang for his pluck". The Globe and Mail, March 5, 2007. The Goddess of Fireflies, his translation of Geneviève Pettersen's novel La déesse des mouches à feu, was nominated for the Governor General's Award for French to English translation at the 2016 Governor General's Awards.Mark Medley, "Governor-General's Literary Award short list a serious case of déjà vu". The Globe and Mail, October 4, 2016.
His newest book of fiction, the novel Jones, was released in August 2022. It is the harrowing story of a pair of siblings attempting to survive the horror show of their family. It, too, was nominated for the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction.
Literary translations Geneviève Pettersen, The Goddess of Fireflies, Véhicule Press, 2016.Geneviève Pettersen, The Goddess of Fireflies, Véhicule Press, 2016. Fredrik Backman, Beartown, Washington Square Press, 2018 Fredrik Backman, My Friends, Atria Books, 2025 Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard, You Crushed It, Book*hug, 2025.Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard, You Crushed It, Book*hug, 2025. Jean-Christophe Réhel, All Kidding Aside, QC Fiction, 2025.Jean-Christophe Réhel, All Kidding Aside, QC Fiction, 2025.
References
External links Neil Smith profile at Penguin Random House Canada