Clark Ashton Smith
American author (1893-1961) · United States · On the map · Writers · Died at 68
Clark Ashton Smith was an influential American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories and poetry, and an artist. He achieved early recognition in California for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne.
Clark Ashton Smith is read about 325 times a day, in 30 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.
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About this person
As a poet, Smith is grouped with the West Coast Romantics alongside Joaquin Miller, Sterling, and Nora May French and remembered as "The Last of the Great Romantics" and "The Bard of Auburn". Smith's work was praised by his contemporaries. H. P. Lovecraft stated that "in sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Clark Ashton Smith is perhaps unexcelled", and Ray Bradbury said that Smith "filled my mind with incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures". Other writers influenced by Smith include Leigh Brackett, Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, Fritz Leiber, George R. R. Martin, and Donald Sidney-Fryer.
