Dominic Smith was born in 1971 in Brisbane, Australia, and grew up in the Blue Mountains and Sydney. His mother, an Australian secretary, and his father, an American corporate manager, separated when he was eight years old. The following year, the family home burned down and his mother suffered a stroke, becoming disabled and causing the family to face financial struggles.
Now living in Seattle, Washington, Smith is the author of six novels, including "The Last Painting of Sara de Vos," a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. His writing has been published in various publications, such as The Atlantic, The Chicago Tribune, Texas Monthly, The Australian, and The New York Times. He has received fellowships from the Australia Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Smith's work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Dobie Paisano Fellowship from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Sherwood Anderson Fiction Prize, and a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has also taught at several universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, Southern Methodist University, and Rice University. Smith has been a faculty member in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers since 2008.