On the trail of Jack Bottomly, Paradeplatz, Zürich, 1979.
(Photo courtesy of Sicherheitsamt der Zürcher Kantonspolitzei)
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c/o Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
Despite school years in Halifax (Dalhousie '63) and working years in Montreal (Dawson College) Ray Smith has always considered Mabou, Cape Breton, home. Retired from teaching in 2007, he now lives in Mabou in the house built by his grandfather - who also built as his store the building which is now The Red Shoe Pub. He has two exemplary sons, Nicholas and Alexander.
"A brilliant stylist" (Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature), he nonetheless has no Smith style: each of his seven books is unique. Somewhat over half the work is comic, often hilariously so. Although usually set in Canada with Canadian characters, the books reflect his extensive travel and international perspective. Important sections of his work are set in Iceland, Venice, Edinburgh, Paris, Zurich, and Germany, and other languages appear often. A dramatic performer, Smith has done over 250 readings of his work in North America and in a dozen European countries. Many of the stories and chapters have been published separately in journals and anthologies. Smith has also published criticism, reviews, travel pieces, etc, in newspapers, magazines, journals, and on radio in Canada and Europe. He was writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta (1986-87) and Canada-Scotland Writing Fellow in Edinburgh (1987-88). A Night at the Opera won the Hugh MacLennan Best Fiction Award in 1992. Charles Foran recently sent Century to the prime minister as number 78 on Yann Martel's project, What is Stephen Harper Reading?
- The Flush of Victory: Jack Bottomly Among the Virgins. Emeryville, ON: Biblioasis, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-897231-28-9.
- "[T]he novel is as defiant as anything Smith has published in the course of his shape-shifting odyssey as an outsider to mainstream literary culture." - Charles Foran
- The Man Who Hated Emily Brontë. Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 2004. ISBN: 0-88984-245-0.
- The Man Who Loved Jane Austen. Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 1999. ISBN: 0-88984-202-7.
- A Night at the Opera. Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 1992. ISBN: 0-88984-137-3
- Emeryville, ON: Biblioasis, 2007.ISBN: 978-1-897231-11-1.
- "Like its cinematic predecessor, this Night at the Opera possesses the madcap comic anarchy of the Marx Brothers, but it also has its serious side. In the tradition of The Magic Mountain, which Thomas Mann referred to as 'a very serious jest', Smith's novel deals in metaphysics while poking fun at those who take ideas too seriously." - Michael Darling
- Century. Toronto: General, 1986.ISBN: 7737-5076-2.
- Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP/Polygon, 1990. ISBN: 0-7486-6016-X.
- Emeryville, ON: Biblioasis, 2008. Introduction by Charles Foran. ISBN: 978-1-897231-51-7.
- "The twists and turns of his narratives, the superb visual depictions of Venice, Paris, Vancouver Island, the ravaged landscapes of post-First World War Germany, the rich evocations of emotional disturbances and changes - all these and more are rendered in a subtle, complex prose that cannot fail to delight its readers." - Douglas Barbour
- Lord Nelson Tavern. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1974. ISBN: 0-7710-8195-2.
- New Canadian Library, 1981. ISBN: 0-7710-9281-4.
- Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP/Polygon, 1990. ISBN: 0-7486-6018-6.
- Cape Breton is the Thought Control Centre of Canada. Toronto: Anansi, 1969. No ISBN.
- 2nd. ed: Toronto: Anansi, 1974. ISBN: 0-88784-302-6.
- 3rd. ed: Erin, ON: The Porcupine's Quill, 1989. ISBN: 0-88984-099-7.
- Cover painting and twenty-four illustrations by Ken Tolmie. Includes 'Secrets from Beyond the Pale', introduction by Ken Tolmie and 'The Age of Innocence', introduction by the author.
- 4rd. ed: Emeryville, ON: Biblioasis, 2006. Introductions and illustrations as in 3rd ed. ISBN: 978-0-9738184-2-0.
- "First published in 1969, [this book] remains as refreshing, innovative and important today as it has in every previous incarnation. Sophisticated, playful, crafted, sly, self-referential and extremely funny, it marks the beginning of a long and important, if unfortunately under appreciated, career by one of Canada's best humorists and innovative story-tellers." - John Metcalf
