This May, Elizabethtown College’s very own creative writing professor Curtis Smith is releasing a new novel, titled “Deaf Heaven.” Smith is no stranger to the literary world, having published over 125 stories and essays which have appeared in publications spanning from “The Best American Short Stories” to the “W.W. Norton anthology New Micro.” The new novel is his seventh, in addition to five story collections, two essay collections and a book of creative nonfiction.
“Deaf Heaven” follows a man named Jason Driscoll who gets away with murder but loses his soul in the process. Written without chapter numbers, readers journey alongside the protagonist across three “acts” as he tries to redeem himself in his life.
Despite Smith’s prolific output, writing was only something he found in his late twenties when he began writing short stories. “I think it was the challenge of it,” Smith said of eventually tackling the novel form. “I had completed grad school and was still teaching high school at the time. I wanted to move to the next step.”
This past Tuesday, Smith formally announced the new novel at the Bowers Writers House to a packed house of students, faculty and Elizabethtown readers. Pulling from the likes of Raymond Carver, “Crime and Punishment” and 1950’s thriller noir films, “Deaf Heaven”’s exploration of suffering and resilience comes from both a place of curiosity and personal reflection.
“Driscoll struggles with things we all struggle with, be it grief, faith, relationships, loyalty, and love… he just does a worse job of it,” Smith said. “I expect readers will leave with feelings of empathy, strangely. Redemption can be possible.”
The prose of “Deaf Heaven,” in classic Smith fashion, is terse, understated and filled to the brim with impactful emotional and sensory images, often centering around bodies of water. After poring over the first rudimentary draft, Smith finds these motifs and repeated images and doubles down on them. To Smith, writing is “not a monolith,” but a multifaceted endeavor with many working parts.
He is a writer of the truest form, drafting and revising in longhand before transferring the polished draft into type. “I usually write in acts, then stitch the acts together. I am constantly fine tuning in the process. I’m a planner and I need to see things through, scene by scene and act by act,” he said.
Smith, a natural introvert, was drawn to writing as an art form for its interiority and scope. “Writing is so engaging. It activates a part of your imagination and once you start, the hours simply melt away. It is a gift in this world. Without it, I don’t know what I would be doing… probably watching sports,” he said.
Smith, who teaches creative writing on campus, said the students are a source of inspiration that have broadened his horizons. “My students are always bringing in new prompts and ideas, and I write with them in their exercises,” he said. “They take their writing and ideas to places I would have never thought about. It has opened me to see new potential in the field.”
Through his experience in writing seven novels, Smith’s spark for writing has remained lit. “I filter my own experience and thoughts into each character I craft, even if they are different from myself. Because of that, I’ve learned a lot about myself,” he said. According to Smith, writing and publishing even with small presses is important, an essential act that has led him to numerous opportunities, including his ability to teach at Elizabethtown.
Striking while the iron is hot, Smith is already at work on his next novel, amidst other projects. “Deaf Heaven,” published by Running Wild Press, will be available to read this May and will be available for purchase via Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
