‘Passionate, witty, just plain great; this man’s voice hops right off the page’ – Roddy Doyle
Stephen James Smith is a Dublin poet and playwright central to the rise of the vibrant spoken word scene in Ireland today. His poetry videos have amassed over 2.5 million views.
In 2017 he was commissioned by St. Patrick’s festival to write a new poem as a Celebratory Narrative of Ireland. The resultant piece My Ireland is accompanied by a short film which has been viewed over 300,000 times and was screened at the London film festival.
In 2018 he was commissioned by Dublin stadium sponsor Aviva to write a poem to highlight the recent rugby final between England & Ireland on Paddy’s day. The poem entitled Bring it Home chalked up over 750,000 views across the weekend – and Ireland won!
Stephen facilitates poetry workshops in schools around Ireland and is artist in residence with Dunamaise arts centre & Laois arts office. His poetry is included on the syllabus at Western Connecticut State University and his work has been translated into multiple languages.
His debut collection Fear Not, published by Arlen House, was launched in September 2018 in Dublin at Poetry Ireland on Parnell Square.
