Amanda Willliamsen

 Amanda Williamsen lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington. She served as poet laureate of Cupertino, CA, in 2016. Sheis a native of Ohio, where she grew up along the Maumee River.  Her favorite activities include canoeing, gardening with her family, taking cat naps next to a cat, and purchasing fireworks at roadside stands with the intent to drive them over state lines.  She has taught writing and literature at secondary schools and universities, and her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Baltimore Review, New Ohio Review, Midwestern Gothic, and The Fabulist.  She earned her B.A. at Wittenberg University and her M.A. from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins. Williamsen said she prefers writing about deep past as opposed to the present, and conveys her themes through symbols. “I look at (memories) not only through the lens of memory, but also through the lens of art,” she said. “Writing is a solitary art, but when you share it, you touch other people. You speak to the common heart.”