About Amy

The “official” bio, eg the short version: 

Amy Smith writes poetry because it roots her into spaces that feel like home. Some of her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in several places, including:  Humana Obscura, Gyroscope Review, contemporary haibun online, and the Wee Sparrow Water Anthology. She published her first poetry collection, Composting the Moon, in March 2022. Amy is currently pursuing her MFA degree in poetry through the low-residency program at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. 

The wordy, more personal version:

As much as possible, I move through this world as a poet. I am interested in sounds and songs and language and meaning. I am curious about the way language changes over time, and how the words we use influence what we see, think, believe, or even how we feel in our bodies. I am drawn to language that surprises, language that asks questions and holds paradox, language that stimulates the senses. I am interested in the language of body and place. 

My work is deeply influenced by the land that I live with, and is not separate from stones and trees and ancestors. While nature based, it is also deeply human. Many of my poems explore the ways we belong to land and to each other and the longing we feel when belonging is elusive.

In other work, I am or have been a teacher, a massage therapist, a movement practitioner, a yogi, a fitness trainer, and an anatomy geek. My teaching experience has mostly been around the body: teaching anatomy and physiology, teaching in massage or yoga schools, teaching individuals and small groups ways to move more creatively and with more freedom in their bodies. I bring this deep embodied awareness into my poetry, and these days I am finding ways to blend movement and writing.