Joseph Smith (1805-44) was the founder of the Mormon faith. Born in Sharon, Vermont, received a visitation from the Father and the Son in the spring of 1820. He published the Book of Mormon, which he translated from golden plates, in 1829, and founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830. After a lifetime of dynamic leadership in Kirtland, Ohio, in Independence, Missouri, and in Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph, sustained by his people as a prophet of God, was killed by a mob while he was being held prisoner in Carthage, Illinois.

Joseph Smith's writings are extensive, and consist chiefly of works considered scripture by Latter-day Saints: his translation of The Book of Mormon, and the revelations he received, collected in the Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price, the latter of which contains his personal account of his first vision. See also the History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Ed. B.H. Roberts, 7 vols). His personal writings have also been collected, published, and discussed. Samples of his personal letters can be found here.

Although Joseph Smith is revered (or dismissed) more as a prophet than as a literary author, many of his writings are of a strong literary quality. His "King Follett Discourse," is a landmark not only in Mormon theology but in the sermon form, and has been critically evaluted. Several of the revelations collected in the Doctrine and Covenants have pronounced literary qualities, such as sections 19, 76, 88, and 121. Section 76 has been rendered in poetic form, "The Vision," and published under Joseph Smith's name (although perhaps written by W. W. Phelps).

Joseph Smith gave impetus not only to the Mormon faith, but to Mormon writing generally by encouraging the keeping of careful records and journals, by establishing printing presses in each city of the Mormon sojourn, by encouraging early LDS writers (such as Eliza R. Snow, Parley P. Pratt, and W. W. Phelps), by commissioning the collection of hymn texts (through Emma Smith), and by generally promoting education among his people:

"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." --Doctrine and Covenants 88:118

It should be noted that Joseph Smith has been the subject of a great range of Mormon literature. He has been honored in Mormon hymn texts, such as "Praise to the Man," and dramatized as a fictional character in widely differing kinds of Mormon historical fiction. See, for example, Parley P. Pratt's early and spirited "Dialogue Between Joseph Smith and the Devil"; Virginia Sorenson's depiction of Joseph Smith during the Nauvoo period in A Little Lower Than the Angels; or Orson Scott Card's in his Saints or the character Alvin in Card's fantasy series, The Tales of Alvin Maker.