Marc Smith is the creator and founder of the International Poetry Slam movement. As stated in the PBS television series, The United States of Poetry , a “strand of new poetry began at Chicago's Green Mill Tavern in 1987 when Marc Smith found a home for the Poetry Slam.” Since then, performance poetry has spread throughout the world, exported to over 500 cities large and small.

Born on the southeast side of Chicago in 1950, Marc Kelly Smith is the founder of the Poetry Slam. He spent most of his young life as a construction worker, but has written poetry since he was 19. Fed up with stuffy academic poetry readings that appeared to have little regard for its audience, Smith found a crowd-inclusive, entertaining method for nurturing the poetry scene by hosting the first poetry slam at the Get Me High Lounge in Bucktown, Chicago in 1984. Since July of 1986, Marc has run the Uptwon Poetry Slam, a three hour show featuring an open mic (1 hour), feature--poet or professional touring act (1 hour), and the poetry slam. It is the longest running, weekly poetry show in the country, and one of the longest running shows in Chicago history. He has performed his own, blue-collar, Carl Sandberg influenced poetry to over 100,000.

Marc Smith (Died 2006 in London) was an American born actor who appeared in several films, occasionally dubbing parts in Japanese anime.