‘The Book of the Dead’ book author, editor to be honored

Posted On November 1, 2021

Author/Editor Michael B. Smith will receive the 2018 Laurence L. Holt Award in Literature, the annual publication of the National Book Award, announced Thursday.

Smith will be honored at a ceremony at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., next week.

The ceremony will be streamed live on the National Association of Booksellers website.

Smith was born in Texas and was raised in Florida.

He graduated from Texas Southern College with a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Smith was married to Laura Smith, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, in 1991.

The couple have three children: Jaden, 8, and Jacob, 9.