Recently I’ve starting putting out more content on Medium in addition to my personal blog.
As part of this uptick in writing and putting my work out into the world, I wrote a little About Me Stories article about what kind of work I plan to put on the site & a little bit of personal info about me.
Check it out here, and follow me on Medium for articles & essays about fitness, health, self, and more!
Introducing a new endeavor on my self-care blog: The Great British Blog Off!
Taking inspiration from Julie & Julia, I’m baking my way through the 2016 Great British Bake-Off tie-in cookbook, Great British Bake Off: At Home. Each week, I bake a new recipe and share the results and the experience.
Join me on the newly redesigned blog's Great British Blog Off page.
Nonfiction essay “Cooking for One” is now available in audio format through Golden Walkman Magazine.
Read about my latest blogging endeavor, why the name of the blog has changed, and more at Running Into Joy!
In May 2019, Amanda officially completed her MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Chatham University by defending the thesis How to Tell a Love Story.
This work comprises a series of memoir and personal essays exploring the interplay between romantic relationships, pop culture, and grief.
A few essays from this collection have been published. They are:
”The Lonely Planet Guide to Grief” in bonfires
“The Process of Unraveling” in Razor LIt
“What Happens at White Castle” in Hoosier Lit
Currently, Amanda is taking a brief pause from putting her own romantic escapades and grief under the microscope, but plans to return to this essay collection and transform it into a book-length manuscript.
The latest issue of The Hemingway Review features an article I co-wrote with my undergraduate professor, Dr. Mark Cirino! We began working on the article when I was a senior in college, so it's a joy to see it in print at last.
Thank you to The Hemingway Review for giving our ideas a home. I had no idea my offhand comment about Hemingway's vague treatment of menstruation would lead us here.
In the first and only Chatham University Word Circus at Glitterbox Theater, I had the pleasure of being one of the evening's four featured readers.
I read a short piece of experimental creative nonfiction titled "Anything Could Happen(TM)" and a brief essay about my home, Cincinnati.
It is always a joy and a pleasure to hear what the other MFA students have been working on and to bring out some laughs from the audience.
This summer, Chatham University MFA students gathered at our beautiful sustainable campus, Eden Hall, for ten days of writing, reading, and collaboration.
The residency included targeted genre workshops with esteemed faculty members; I had the pleasure of participating in the Nonfiction Workshop with Ira Sukrungruang. We learned a great deal from his lectures and I deeply value his feedback on my work.
Pictured here among the general fun are two separate readings I had the pleasure of giving during the event. First, I read from a work in progress at our Open Mic--you can tell from my wacky expression that it was a humor piece. Next, I had the honor of reading some work from our Words Without Walls students from the Summer 2017 class.
Finally, we ended the event with the inaugural SCW Writer Prom. This year's theme was space. We opened with a glorious lip sync battle in the Eden Hall Barn, followed by one of my favorite parts of writerly get-togethers: dancing like nobody's watching!
This summer, I got the amazing opportunity to travel and write in Iceland for 10 days over the summer as part of Chatham University's MFA Travel Seminar.
While there, I spent a lot of time writing in my travel journey and ultimately produced a lovely, melancholy essay that I'm quite proud of. I also got to experience and Icelandic bath (complete with communal shower, highly recommend) and eat fermented shark (do not recommend).
Here are a few photos from the trip.
