Background
Smaill was born in Auckland in 1979.
Smaill was born in Auckland in 1979.
She studied musical performance at the University of Canterbury in the late 1990s and during her time at Canterbury, she decided to not become a professional violinist, but pursue a career in writing instead. She began studying English and music theory, before changing to the University of Auckland, from where she graduated with a master"s degree in English.
She started playing the violin aged seven. She spent the following year in Wellington at Victoria University of Wellington, from where she graduated with a masters in creative writing. She lived in Tokyo, Japan, from 2004 to 2006.
Smaill started a Doctor of Philosophy in contemporary American poetry at University College London in the United Kingdom, and finished it after returning to live in Wellington in 2013.
She was a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire from 2009 to 2012. Smaill met the novelist Carl Shuker while studying at Victoria University.