Smith, Emily Louise

Associate Professor

positions

Associate Professor, Creative Writing , College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts

Founder and publisher of the award-winning literary imprint Lookout Books, Emily Smith teaches publishing arts at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she directs The Publishing Laboratory and serves as publisher for the magazine Ecotone. She was recently named Wilmington’s Woman of Achievement in the Arts, as well as UNCW’s Lecturer of the Year. Her poems have appeared in Southern Review and Best New Poets, among others, and she has received fellowships from Hambidge, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg fund, the Studios of Key West, and the Hub City Writers Project.

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Contact Info

smithel@uncw.edu

910.962.7401

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Selected Publications

Academic Article
- The Next Generation of Editors and Publishers. Boulevard magazine. 2016-01-01
- A Conversation with Photographer Andreas Franke. Ecotone. 9:1. 2013-12-01
Article
- What Becoming a Mother Has Taught Me about Home. House Method, Three Ships. 2018-01-01
- About the Cover. Ecotone. 2015-01-01
Book
- Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic. Lookout Books. 2022-01-01
- Overnight Success of Lookout Books. Literary Publishing in the 21st Century. 2016-01-01
- The Paradox of Stillness. Salt. 2015-01-01
Chapter
- The Wilmington Connection -- The Hub City Writers’ Project: The First Twenty-Five Years. Hub City Press. 103. 2020-01-01
- The Overnight Success of Lookout Books -- Literary Publishing in the 21st Century. Milkweed Editions. 225-238. 2016-01-01
- The Junction. Electric Literature. 2015-01-01
- Winter Beach Run. 27 Views of Wilmington: The Port City in Poetry and Prose. 31–38. 2015-01-01
Document
- Original cover images. My Only Sunshine, The Patron Saint of Dreams, Through the Pale Door, and In the Garden of Stone. The Hub City Writers’ Project: The First Twenty-Five Years. 71. 2020-01-01
- This Is My Body: A Memoir of Religious and Romantic Obsession by Cameron Dezen Hammon. Lookout Books. 2019-01-01
- Trespass: Ecotone Essayists Beyond the Boundaries of Place, Identity, and Feminism, foreword by May-lee Chai. Lookout Books. 2018-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2017-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Craft. Ecotone magazine. 2017-01-01
- Imaginary Children -- Belle Boggs’s. Catapult. 2016-12-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2016-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Country and City. Ecotone magazine. 2016-01-01
- Interview with artist Andrew Blanchard. Ecotone. 124. 2016-01-01
- We Show What We Have Learned & Other Stories by Clare Beams. Lookout Books. 2016-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Sound. Ecotone magazine. 2015-01-01
- Honey from the Lion by Matthew Neill Null. Lookout Books. 2015-01-01
- Interview with writer Jeff Sharlet. Ecotone. 112–114. 2015-01-01
- Tenth anniversary Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2015-01-01
- American Photograph,” “One Day My Grief Up and Quit,” and “Fields, Drifting Apart”. The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume VII: North Carolina. 222–224. 2014-01-01
- Astoria to Zion: Twenty-Six Stories of Risk and Abandon from Ecotone’s First Decade. Lookout Books. 2014-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2014-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Sustenance. Ecotone magazine. 2014-01-01
- Interview with artist Kirsten Sims. Ecotone. 2014-01-01
- The Whiskey Baron by Jon Sealy. Hub City Press. 2014-01-01
- A Conversation with Paula Rebsom. Ecotone. 88-101. 2013-05-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2013-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Migration. Ecotone magazine. 2013-01-01
- In the Garden of Stone by Susan Tekulve. Hub City Press. 2013-01-01
- River Bend Chronicle: The Junkification of a Boyhood Idyll amid the Curious Glory of Urban Iowa by Ben Miller. Lookout Books. 2013-01-01
- A Conversation with Harry Taylor. Ecotone. 98. 2012-04-01
- Ecotone magazine Abnormal. Ecotone magazine. 2012-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Remembrance. Ecotone magazine. 2012-01-01
- The Patron Saint of Dreams by Philip Gerard. Hub City Press. 2012-01-01
- When All the World Is Old: Poems by John Rybicki. Lookout Books. 2012-01-01
- A Conversation with Harry Underwood. Ecotone. 106. 2011-09-01
- three poems in New South. New South / Georgia State University. 2011-07-01
- "American Photograph" and "All Right". The Southern Review. 4 pages. 2011-04-01
- five poems in Apartment D: Five Years of Writers. Hub City Writers Project. 2011-04-01
- Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories by Edith Pearlman. Lookout Books. 2011-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2011-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2011-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2011-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2011-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Happiness. Ecotone magazine. 2011-01-01
- God Bless America: Stories by Steve Almond. Lookout Books. 2011-01-01
- Waking: Poems by Ron Rash. Hub City Press. 2011-01-01
- After Reading about How to Attract Martins to Gourd Houses. Best New Poets, published by the University of Virginia / Meridian. 1. 2010-11-01
- Checking Out: Poems by Tim Peeler. Hub City Press. 2010-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Sex & Death. Ecotone magazine. 2010-01-01
- Fifth Anniversary Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2010-01-01
- My Only Sunshine by Lou Dischler. Hub City Press. 2010-01-01
- four poems in Show & Tell: Writers on Writing. The Publishing Laboratory. 5. 2009-08-01
- Remnants in Beloved on the Earth: 150 Poems of Grief and Gratitude. Holy Cow Press. 2. 2009-06-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2009-01-01
- Ecotone magazine Evolution. Ecotone magazine. 2009-01-01
- Expecting Goodness. Hub City Press. 2009-01-01
- Through the Pale Door by Brian Ray. Hub City Press. 2009-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2008-01-01
- Still Home: The Essential Poetry of Spartanburg. Hub City Press. 2008-01-01
- Spartanburg Revisited: A Second Look at the Photographs of Alfred and Bob Willis. Hub City Writers Project. 21. 2007-11-01
- Small Hours in Front Porch Journal. Texas State University-San Marcos. 1. 2007-03-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2007-01-01
- Driving Home from a Funeral. Spartanburg Journal. 31. 2006-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2006-01-01
- Interview with the Past. Kakalak 2006: An Anthology of Carolina Poets. 62. 2006-01-01
- Like Sunlight Unraveling. Columbia Poetry Review. 106. 2006-01-01
- Seven Tears for Joseph Cornell in Tar River Poetry. East Carolina University. 30-31. 2006-01-01
- To the Chimney Swifts. Spartanburg Journal. 31. 2006-01-01
- Close of Season. Smartish Pace. 100. 2005-01-01
- Ecotone magazine. Ecotone magazine. 2005-01-01
- Why She Was So Sweet. The Journal. 71-73. 2005-01-01

Presentations

Presentation
- Preparing for Your Debut Book, North Carolina Writers’ Network Fall Conference 2022-11-01
- The Teaching Press as an Agent of Change, Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference 2022-03-26
- Small Press, Big Dreams, Working with Indie Presses and Literary Magazines, Converse University MFA Winter Residency Lecture and editorial consultations 2022-01-04
- A Publisher in a Time of Pandemic, North Carolina Writers’ Network Journal 2021-07-15
- Guest Lecture // “Small Press Publishing, Washington & Lee University 2021-05-05
- From Agency to On Sale: Publishing Your Debut Book, Lookout Labs digital series 2021-03-18
- Spotlight: Lookout Books, Community of Literary Magazines and Presses 2021-01-21
- Book Launch for The Hub City Writers’ Project: The First Twenty-Five Years , virtual Spartanburg 2020-11-12
- The Writing + Activist Life: Discussion with UNCW Alumni, Writers’ Week 2020-11-06
- Around Town with Rhonda Bellamy, “Writers’ Week,” interview by Rhonda Bellamy 2020-10-30
- Indie Bookstore Zoom Backgrounds, Shelf Awareness 2020-05-11
- Lookout Books Partners with Indie Bookstores to Provide Virtual Backgrounds,, Publishers Weekly 2020-05-06
- Now You Can Use Your Favorite Indie Bookstore as Your Zoom Background, Literary Hub 2020-04-29
- The Long Road to Overnight Success: From Poet to Publisher, Emily Smith Makes Her Mark with Lookout Books, Salt 2019-12-01
- Book Publishing with Cameron Dezen Hammon (This Is My Body) and Beth Staples (Shenandoah), Writers’ Week 2019-11-06
- Author-Agent Conversation” between Camille Dungy and Samantha Shea , Writers’ Week 2018-11-02
- Beyond Boundaries: Writers’ Week Celebrates Female Writers and Essays in Trespass,, Encore 2018-10-30
- Trespass—Making Room for Greater Complexity in Place-based Writing: Explorations of Body, Sexuality, Gender, and Race, Writers’ Week 2018-10-30
- A Woman’s Place: Ecotone Essayists Expand the Boundaries of Place-Based Writing, Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference 2018-03-01
- The Teaching Press: Bringing Professional Literary Publishing into the Classroom, Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference 2018-03-01
- DisruptHer: Women Leaders Are Transforming Their Industries, Cucalorus Connect: tech and entrepreneurship conference // Cucalorus Film Festival 2017-11-09
- Brilliant at Breakfast: Agents and Editors, North Carolina Writers’ Network conference 2017-11-05
- Beyond Boundaries: Writers’ Week Celebrates Female Writers and Essays in Trespass,, North Carolina Writers’ Network News 2017-11-01
- Book Publishing Panel with Julie Barer (agent), Kristen Radtke (The Believer), and Parneshia Jones (Northwestern University Press) , Writers’ Week 2017-11-01
- Creative Truth in a Time of Resistance, Biennial Conference Rust/Resistance: Works for Recovery // 2017-06-01
- Clare Beams and Emily Louise Smith, T/K podcast 2017-04-25
- Publishing Lab at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Cities Tour: Wilmington 2017-02-20
- Award-Winning Professional Publications with Preprofessional Staff: Mentorship and Applied Learning in Literary Publishing, Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference 2017-02-10
- Book Publishing Panel with Dawn Davis (37 Ink), Kirby Kim (Janklow & Nesbit), and Brian Perrin (HarperCollins), Writers’ Week 2016-11-03
- The Landscape of Literary Publishing, Bread Loaf–Orion Writers’ Conference 2016-06-01
- Alumni Career Panel, Writers’ Week 2015-11-20
- Media Marriage, Cucalorus Connect: tech and entrepreneurship conference 2015-11-14
- Public Reading // 27 Views of Wilmington launch , Pomegranate Books 2015-10-24
- Lookout Publishes First Novel,, Interview by Gina Gambony, Midday Interview, WHQR 2015-09-01
- Publishing Roundtable , Summer Writers Conference 2015-06-01
- Literary Publishing in the 21st Century, Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference 2015-04-11
- Image Is Everything: Literary Magazines on Design, Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference 2015-04-10
- Why Indies Matter in the Publishing Landscape, Pamlico Writers Conference 2015-03-21
- North Carolina Speakeasy, American Booksellers Association Winter Institute 2015-02-08
- North Carolina Indies Build Lists, Community, Claire Kirch, Publishers Weekly, 2015-01-30
- Astoria to Zion: An Ecotone Anthology Release Party and Reading, Tales of Risk and Abandon 2014-04-08
- Tales of Risk and Abandon from Astoria to Zion, Doyle’s Cafe 2014-04-08
- Astoria to Zion: An Ecotone Anthology Release and a Conversation about Writing in a Digital Age, The Center for Fiction 2014-04-07
- The Future of Independent Publishing and a Release Party for Astoria to Zion, Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference 2014-02-28
- From Page to Publication, CFCC Writers' Week 2014-02-19
- Agents and Editors, North Carolina Writers Network Fall Conference 2013-11-17
- How to Work with a Publisher (So They'll Want to Work with You), North Carolina Writers Network Fall Conference 2013-11-16
- Book Publishing, Writers Week 2013-11-07
- Poetry Chapbooks, Intermediate Graphic Design 2013-11-07
- The Writing Life , The Writing Life Class 2013-10-01
- Small Presses Small Presses Win Big: Publishers Sound Off on Their National Book Award Winners and Finalists, Association of Writers & Writing Programs annual conference 2013-03-09
- The Teaching Press: Literary Magazines and Learning, Association of Writers & Writing Programs annual conference 2013-03-09
- The Debut Voices of Lookout Books, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Annual Conference 2013-03-08
- Love and Book Publishing, Envy & Ardor: Writing about Love (Writers Week) 2013-02-12
- Panel: Indie Publishing in the Digital Age, Writers Week 2012-11-09
- Why Independent Publishers Matter: The Shifting Literary Landscape, August Meeting 2012-08-29
- A Life in Publishing, A Life in Publishing 2012-04-17
- Opening Remarks and Introduction of Edith Pearlman, Celebration of Lookout Books and Ecotone 2012-04-15
- The Writing Life , The Writing Life class 2012-03-29
- Ben George and Emily Louise Smith on the challenges and rewards of publishing with a small press, Steve Almond reading and small press talk 2011-11-12
- Reading and Publishing Talk, Thirsty Tome 2011-09-01
- Reading, Fifth Anniversary Reading and Exhibition 2011-06-18
- Signing of Apartment D: Five Years of Writers in Residence, Book Signing 2011-06-18
- Lookout Books launch / welcome remarks, Lookout Books launch 2011-03-03
- Introduction to Publishing the BFA Anthology, Applied Learning 2011-01-26
- Residencies and Fellowships, Professional Topics Series 2010-11-17
- The Evolution of Ecotone, Writers Week 2010-11-05
- Introduction to Publishing the BFA Anthology, Applied Learning 2010-09-01
- Small Press Publishing, Writing in Place 2010-08-01
- Moderated faculty Q&A, Writing in Place 2010-07-30
- Poetry Reading, Reading 2010-07-01
- Publicizing Your Department, Friday Lunches for Department Chairs 2010-03-19
- Introduction to bookmaking, Publishing Talk 2010-02-05
- Introduction to Publishing the BFA Anthology, Applied Learning 2010-01-26
- Residencies and Fellowships, Professional Topics Series 2010-01-13
- The Cover-Up: Book Design Basics for Writers, Fall Conference 2009-11-20
- Moderator of Publishing Panel with John Jeremiah Sullivan, Amy Hughes, Hannah Abrams, and Brad Land, Writers Week 2009 2009-11-06
- Introduction to Publishing the BFA Anthology, Applied Learning 2009-10-09
- Publishing Panel with Ben George, Scott Hoffman, and Christina Thompson, Writers Week 2008 2008-11-07
- Book Arts Talk: The Making of Holocaust: A Literary Remembrance, Holocaust: A Literary Remembrance 2008-09-11
- the letter i, Exhibitor 2008-09-05
- The State of Literary Publishing with John Lane, Peter Steinberg, and Betsy Teter, Writers Week 2008-02-29