Norma Smith was born in Detroit, grew up in Fresno, and has lived in Oakland since the late 1960s. She worked for many years in hospitals and has also worked as a journalist, as a translator/interpreter, community scholar-educator, event and conference organizer, and as an editor and writing coach. Her work has been published in literary, political, and academic journals. Norma's book of poems, HOME REMEDY, was published in 2017 by Nomadic Press.