Michael V. Smith is the only UBC-Okanagan Assistant Professor who is also a writer, comedian, filmmaker, performance artist and occasional clown.

In recent years, Smith won Vancouver's Community Hero of the Year Award and the inaugural Dayne Ogilvie Award for Emerging Gay Writers. He's also won a Western Magazine Award for Fiction, scooped two short film prize categories at Toronto's Inside Out festival, and was nominated for the Journey Prize.

His videos have played around the world, in cities such as Milan, Dublin, Turin, London, New York, Toronto, Paris, Geneva, Buenos Aires, SF, LA and Bombay. Smith is an MFA grad from UBC’s Creative Writing program.

Smith’s novel, Cumberland (Cormorant Books), was nominated for the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award. His first book of poetry is What You Can’t Have (Signature Editions), nominated for the ReLit Prize. Most recently, he's published a hybrid book of concrete poems/photographs, Body of Text, created with David Ellingsen.

Oh, Vancouver Magazine thought he was one of the city's 25 most influential gay citizens whereas Loop Magazine named him one of Vancouver’s Most Dangerous People...

Check out the 5pt Tour he did with Elizabeth Bachinksy and Jennica Harper.