Invasion of Privacy: Professor Lytton Smith
“The answer is the students,” Professor Lytton Smith said when asked what he’s most proud of about the Geneseo Creative Writing department. “The ambition and the variety and the adventurousness of the students. And students is the wrong word, because you’re all writers. But you have to put in there that I’m inspired by it, although it’s not mine to be proud of, although I kind of am—does that make sense?”
If you know an English major, chances are you know how vital Smith is to the SUNY Geneseo community. Smith has been a member of the faculty here since 2014, and is a member of both the Creative Writing and Black Studies faculties. In his time at Geneseo, Smith has made an impact on countless young writers, although he is always insistent on never taking credit for their success. His selflessness, attention to detail, and devotion to the department we obvious as we chatted over the phone.
Over the years, Smith has taught countless creative writing workshops. In these workshops, students work collaboratively to support each other’s writing and provide feedback in order to improve as writers and gain confidence in sharing work with peers. This space teaches students all sorts of invaluable skills that are applicable not just within creative writing, but outside of academia as well.
When asked what about the workshop is most applicable to real life, Smith answered, “It kind of all is, but that’s not a useful answer to you,” laughing a bit. “I think what I’d probably say this morning is the fact that you are able to see how you and other people think about something in real time, that’s a new thing in the world, so you can’t be worrying about what’s the right answer. You know it’s new, and you know it’s fragile because somebody is nervous about it, so you definitely have an obligation of care to it, but you get to see that your reaction to it is a really valid reaction, but somebody’s completely different reaction is valid. I think that so rarely do we get that experience, because so often we’re rushing to ‘what’s the hot take’ or ‘what’s the right take.’ That real-time seeing how others think and care for a creative thing in the world.”
Smith shared with us some of his favorites—when asked his favorite board game, he responded, “I love board games, and I don’t play them enough. Probably Small World, but I kind of want to answer Mariposa—you manage butterfly migrations, it’s just really beautifully done.”
His movie recommendation? “Anything by Studio Ghibli. If you need a specific one, I think I’d go with My Neighbor Totoro.” The best book he’s read so far this year? “Our House Is On Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis. It was written by Greta Thunberg and her family. It blew my mind and changed my world. It’s about the climate crisis, but it’s also about how schooling doesn’t work and about neurodivergence, and it’s just amazing.”
“People create things together,” Smith said when asked his favorite thing about Geneseo. “It’s very collaborative and communal. I feel like every time you talk to somebody, they’re like, ‘Oh, I was making this with a friend’.”
If you get the chance to work with Professor Lytton Smith in your time here at Geneseo, do it. It’s been an absolute privilege to be a student of his for the past four years, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the compassion, dedication, and knowledge he shares with the Geneseo community each day.