Anna Clark

A journalist and fiction writer; an editor and educator.

My name's Anna Clark. I am a journalist and a fiction writer; an editor and educator; a progressive person interested in creative approaches to art and to justice work.

I'm also 29-years-old. I come from St. Joseph, Michigan: a small town to which I'll proudly point to on my left palm. Much time was spent playing in a great lake a few blocks away and reading Nancy Drew books.

I went on to explore Ann Arbor, where I graduated from the Residential College at the University of Michigan with degrees in Creative Writing & Literature and History of Art, and a minor in Crime & Justice. In January 2007, I earned my walking stick from Warren Wilson College's MFA Program for Writers, where I was a fiction student.

Is it unoriginal to say that college was a transformative time for me? Nevertheless, that's the case. I became involved, almost by accident, in Michigan's prison system. I spent five years facilitating weekly writing workshops in prisons and detention centers via The Prison Creative Arts Project, radically impacting my understanding of the power of voice. Through the same, I partnered in developing and served as leader in The Portfolio Project, matching mentors to incarcerated artists and writers to create a professional portfolio of their best work. I spearheaded PCAP's Speakers Bureau for three years, mentored and trained new members, and was elected to its Executive Committee.

These days, I serve as a mentor in PCAP’s Linkage Project, working with a formerly incarcerated writer. I'm also on the advisory board of The Portfolio Project.

I live, write, and work in Detroit, MI, a place I came to after first spending nearly three years in Boston, MA. During the bulk of The Boston Years, as I expect I'll come to call them, I was a live-in community member at Haley House, a place that challenged my ideas of what it means to live a good life. I also was the arts editor for the Boston street mag that Haley House hosted. What's Up Magazine "brings arts and awareness to the streets" while functioning as a tool for economic empowerment.

My last months in Boston were spent working with The Center for New Words in Cambridge (a feisty nonprofit that creates "spaces and places where women's words matter.") It connects some of the most brilliant writers, editors, and media activists around the world.

These days, I'm building a new life in Detroit--a city I've been hungry to come to for a long time. When I'm not exploring this amazing place, I'm the Communications Coordinator at yet another nonprofit. This one builds community collaborations in much-segregated southeast Michigan. I also teach writing at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, MI and contribute video book reviews to The Collagist, a new online literary journal from Dzanc Books that's debuting on August 15, 2009.

My fiction and journalism has appeared in The American Prospect Online, Utne Reader, AlterNet, Bitch Magazine, Hobart, Common Dreams, The Women's International Perspective, Women's eNews, Writers' Journal, ColorLines, RH Reality Check, make/shift, BloodLotus, ESPN.com, Daily Kos, Clamor Magazine, Kitchen Sink, The Ann Arbor News, The Herald-Palladium, and The Current. I have also guest blogged at WIMN's Voices, Critical Mass, and The Elegant Variation.

I’m a reader, a knitter, a music-lover, a fan of Detroit sports, and a lover of kayaking. I’m habitually barefoot and I have a tendency to laugh entirely too loudly at my own jokes.

Connect with me at:
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
LinkedIn

If you are a publisher interested in submitting a book for possible review, please email me at the link at the top of the page to request address details.

That....that's about it.

ADDENDUM: My younger sister, Elizabeth, says I should be so kind as to mention her in this space. As well, she encourages me to mention our parents, Pat and Patti, and younger brother, Aaron. And so I have.

You win, Elizabeth.