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Writing

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Amy Holman is the author of the poetry collections, Captive (Saddle Road Press, 2023), and  Wrens Fly Through This Opened Window (Somondoco Press, 2010), An Insider's Guide to Creative Writing Programs: Choosing the Right MA or MFA Program, Colony, Residency, Grant or Fellowship (Prentice Hall/Penguin, 2006), and four poetry chapbooks, including the prizewinning Wait for Me, I'm Gone (Dream Horse Press, 2005), called “revelatory and grave, and light as a cloud.” Literary journal editors have nominated her poems for Best of the Net and Pushcart Prizes, and an essay for a Pushcart, and Robert Bly selected her poem “Man Script” for inclusion in The Best American Poetry 1999, after spotting it in a "local paper" (Literal Latte) while dining at The Noho Star. 

Amy writes a paid monthly substack newsletter, What Where: Literary Journals, for poets and fiction writers. She assesses the interests of two literary journals each month, teaching readers how to read what is published for style and figure out where their own work fits. The first post, "The Molecular Level" was open to everyone. Subsequent posts are $7/month, although short-term free subscriptions are available. 

In April 2021, Amy had work micro-residency from NYC Poets Afloat on a historic boat in the New York Harbor, spending two afternoons writing on the Waterfront Barge Museum in Red Hook, Brooklyn. She has been a poetry fellow at the 2015 Quest Writers Conference, in Squamish, British Columbia, and a 2013 guest poet for The Masters School 10th grade English class trip to the Ossining Weir.

In addition to conducting the popular “Amy Holman's Tough-Love Guide to Publishing” column for Poets & Writers Magazine, Amy co-edited Get Your First Book Published and Make It a Success (Career Press, 2001) with Jason Shinder and Jeff Herman. Her poems, essays and stories have appeared in more than 50 publications, including Token Entry and The Subway Chronicles (two anthologies devoted to the New York City subways), Rabbit Ears: The First Anthology of Poems About TV, The History of Panty Hose in America Anthology, Knitting Through It: Inspiring Stories for Times of TroubleAmerican Letters & Commentary, Barrow Street, The Chiron Review, The Cortland Review, Exquisite Corpse, Failbetter, Gargoyle, The Loft Newsletter, The Manhattan Review, The Night Heron Barks, Night Train, The Potomac Review, and The Writer. She contributed articles about knitting in society to The Huffington Post and about poetry inspiration to The Best American Poetry Blog. She even interviewed Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman about his metal-detecting hobby for Barrelhouse Magazine.

Check out Amy's Calendar page for readings and workshops, and News for announcements.

A selection of links to Amy's writing: 

Gargoyle Magazine Online #4: "Intelligence" and "Wild Borough"

The Night Heron Barks (with audio): "Nun Other"

concis: min words, max heart: (with audio): "The Tailor of Twitter"

The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly (with audio): "Bird Hearts Racing" 

NPR Studio 360: Haiku-ing It To The Man

Best American Poetry Reading (YouTube) George Green, Amy Holman

 

Archaeology Magazine poem "The Past Is Always Coming" 

Connotations Press: essay "Lounge Act"

Cortland Review: story "Flow, Eddy Flood"

Zocalo Public Square: poems "Bitterness" & "Freelance Destiny"

Press

Brooklyn Writer Pens Poem About Gowanus Bunny-Hoarder (May 8, 2017) 

Wrens Fly Through This Opened Window is currently out of its print run. You can get copies resold on various bookstore sites. 

 

Amy helped me take an important step as a writer as I was about to promote my second book and search for teaching opportunities. We strategized ways for me to present myself, formally with a website, and informally with a “creative ID.” In the process, she gave me skills that I still use today to connect with people and to get my work out there. In addition, she's incredibly knowledgeable about resources and networks for writers. I found Amy to be sympathetic and supportive with a great sense of humor, traits that helped ease a shy writer [into] making a big transition.

—Nancy Agabian, author, Me as Her Again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter

 

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