One for the Books: San Antonio Book Festival Announces Departure of Literary Director Clay Smith
October 6, 2021 - San Antonio
Mr. Smith goes to Washington. Literary Director Clay Smith welcomes the audience for San Antonio Book Festival's Book Appétit Literary Feast featuring Paula Poundstone at the Witte Museum in 2018. Photo: Lilly Gonzalez.
By Jade Esteban Estrada, Staff Writer | San Antonio Sentinel
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- The San Antonio Book Festival has announced the departure of Clay Smith, the festival’s literary director, who has served the festival in this role since 2012
- Smith will serve as the chief of literary initiatives at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
On Wednesday, the San Antonio Book Festival announced the departure of Clay Smith, the festival’s literary director. Smith, who has served as literary director since the event’s 2012 inception, has taken the position of chief of literary initiatives at the Library of Congress in the nation’s capital. His last day with SABF is Oct. 8.
The mission of the SABF is to unite readers and writers in a celebration of ideas, books, libraries, and literary culture.
In a press release, the SABF staff expressed gratitude for his contributions over the past decade. During that time, Smith increased the number of participating writers from 40 to over 200, according to a spokesperson. He is credited for bringing notable writers like Ann Patchett, Sonia Manzano, Lawrence Wright, Luis Alberto Urrea, Jason Reynolds, Univision’s Jorge Ramos, Tayari Jones and others to San Antonio. Smith also introduced new cultural programs to the city, such as Literary Death Match and The Moth Mainstage.
“Clay has left an indelible imprint on our book festival over the last 10 years,” said Festival Executive Director Lilly Gonzalez. “His gift in selecting books and writers that captivate San Antonio audiences got us to our 10th anniversary. We are both undeniably sad to lose him and eternally grateful that he lent us his talents for as long as he did.”
Before joining the SABF team on a full-time basis, Smith worked part-time with the festival while serving as the editor-in-chief of Kirkus Reviews, one of the nation’s leading book review publications. Smith was part of the original trio of the SABF, which included then San Antonio Public Library Foundation President Tracey Bennett and SABF founding Executive Director and Governing Board Chair Katy Flato.
“From the very beginning, Clay took SABF to a high level that most established festivals could only aspire to achieve,” said Flato. “His deep experience as a journalist and literary programmer, combined with his important publishing contacts and innate sense of literary trends and current topics allowed our start-up festival to punch way above our weight. Simply put, we could never have achieved the success we have without Clay.”
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Looking ahead, Smith will serve as the chief of literary initiatives at the Library of Congress. That office curates the National Book Festival, oversees literary programming and ambassadorships including the United States Poet Laureate, the National Ambassador for Youth Literature, among other Library of Congress ambassadorships and programs. The chief of Literary Initiatives office serves as the Library’s literary expert, providing guidance and inviting authors for programming to retain and attract new audiences to the Library.
“It’s a bittersweet moment leaving the San Antonio Book Festival,” said Smith in an emailed statement. “I take a lot of pride in helping to found the festival, and I leave some of my heart here in San Antonio with the staff, volunteers, and audience that make this festival unique and really quite special among America’s book festivals.”
The 10th annual San Antonio Book Festival will take place May 21, 2022.
Jade Esteban Estrada is a staff writer for the San Antonio Sentinel, where he covers public health and other citywide issues. jade@sasentinel.com | Twitter: @getjaded