LYTTON SMITH was born in Galleywood, England, and lives in NYC. His work has appeared in American Letters & Commentary, The Atlantic, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, and Verse. A chapbook, Monster Theory, was published by the Poetry Society of America in 2008, selected by Kevin Young. He helps run Blind Tiger Poets, an organization to promote contemporary poetry, and Mystery Bench Press. He received an MFA from Columbia University. Lytton is named for Edward Bulwer-Lytton, the Victorian novelist who first coined the novel opening, "It was a dark and stormy night."