Skylark

When Beston Barnett, a newly minted creative writing graduate from Tulane University, cannot find a job in his field, he takes a volunteer position leading a writer’s group of men who are HIV-positive. His students, who represent all walks of New Orleans life, are supposed to document their experiences for future generations. They have a lot of fun—but don’t produce much. Beston decides to take it upon himself to record their lives. In the process, he falls in love with the city, the neighborhood, and his students—discovering who he is in the midst of a horrific epidemic.

About the Author

Skylark is William Christy Smith’s first novel. He is primarily a short story writer who specializes in southern gothic themes based on the horrors of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, master of liberal arts degree from the University of Chicago, and master of arts administration degree from the University of New Orleans.

Praise for Skylark

“Skylark is joyous proof that comedy is tragedy plus time. In these stories, the agony of Kushner’s Angels in America meets the comic grotesque of Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces.”             

–James Nolan,  author of the Katrina novel Higher Ground and the pandemic memoir Between Dying and Not Dying, I Chose the Guitar   

“At turns hilarious and tragic, but never dour. Smith masterfully weaves tales that blend heartache with humor and humanity, creating touching narratives that resonate deeply.”

–Elisa M. Speranza, author of The Italian Prisoner

“I found it difficult to stop reading because of how this marvelous, caring community is gradually built and sustained. Yet that encouraging story is mirrored against the awful tragedy of the AIDS epidemic, with the knowledge that each of the characters, or most, won’t live past either the edges of the book or their small, little era at the end of the 1980s.”

–Patrick Earl Ryan, author of If We Were Electric, winner of the 2019 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction

“Chris Smith has written a remarkable collection of stories dealing with the peak years of the AIDS crisis. . . . creating a world full of people meeting adversity with warmth, humor, community, and creativity.”

–Clay Delery, author of The Up Stairs Lounge Arson: Thirty-Two Deaths in a New Orleans Gay Bar and Out for Queer Blood

“Smith shifts from wickedly funny to heartbreaking and back again. Beston Barnett and the characters he encounters, witnesses, befriends, and loves have left an enduring impression on me. These stories will make you laugh and feel deeply.”

–Katie Bowler Young, author of Enrique Alferez, Sculptor

© 2026 University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press

Paperback | 246 pgs. | 6" x 9" | ISBN: 978-1-959569-40-4