Doing Scary Things with Amanda Williams

Amanda Williams Wilkinson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University where she was the recipient of a Jackson Fellowship and a Teaching Fellowship. She is the recipient of the Gertrude Claytor Prize in Poetry from the Academy of American Poets, and her poetry has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems have been published on Poets.org, in Flock, The Sycamore Review, Sugar House Review, Silver Birch Press, and The New Territory, among others. Her essays have appeared in AAAA Magazine and The Morning News, and she sits on the Board of Directors for Ruminate magazine. She is also the Owner of The Bodice Babe, a historical costuming company, where she creates one-of-a-kind custom historical garments for clients all over the world. She is currently the Assistant Director of Development, Annual Fund & Parent Programs at Whitfield School in St. Louis where she lives with her husband. Little Human Relics is her first book.

Anna + Katie talk with Amanda about the process of publishing her first book and then having the bravery to ask for it to be re-released. We discuss how she finds time to run her online costuming business and how she brings her innate creativity to her "day job" of fundraising for the Whitfield School in St. Louis. She explains the hardest part of writing poetry (finishing them!) and what she was most scared of when asking her publisher to re-release her book. She talks about the fears that come with doing this work and what she can and cannot control, as well as what her most rewarding outcome of her hard work would be. She explains the vulnerability with re-releasing a project, but also what she plans to do differently this time. Amanda discusses the fantastic way that she prioritizes her time between all of her passions and efforts and what keeps her going along the way.

Connect with Amanda!

Author Website: https://amanda-williams-cmpr.squarespace.com/

Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBodiceBabe

Purchase her book Little Human Relics on Amazon or directly from the publisher at http://www.unsolicitedpress.com/