Amanda Reavey

Amanda Reavey is an Emeritus Poetry Fellow at Black Earth Institute and the author of Marilyn (The Operating System, 2015), which won the 2017 Best Book Award in Poetry from the Association for Asian American Studies. With over 18 years experience helping individuals (re)member, (re)discover and (re)imagine their origin stories through facilitating creative writing and therapeutic journal writing workshops, Amanda believes restoryation is a vital restorative practice because our stories are sacred, and the (r)evolution is somatic. She is a Certified Journal to the Self Facilitator through the Center for Journal Therapy and earned an MFA in Writing & Poetics from Naropa University. Currently, Amanda is working on a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Alverno College and a certificate in Poetry Therapy from the International Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy. Amanda is a member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, the National Association of Social Workers and the National Association for Poetry Therapy. She is the founder of Tabi Po Poetry, which hosts a reading series and open mic every third Sunday at 3pm at County Clare Irish Pub in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as well as a literary magazine and workshop offerings. Find more at www.tabipopoetry.com.

List of Publications (Selected):

https://www.tabipopoetry.com/publications

What energizes you as you consider the future of the arts in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has such a vibrant arts community and I’m excited about all the pop up poetry reading series all over the state. Freesia McKee, Danielle Harms and Angela Voras Hills all recently started a reading series. There is a truly a space for everyone’s voices: new, emerging and established. There is such a strong tradition that we have literary mentors too: Kimberly Blaeser, Brenda Cárdenas, Nicholas Gulig, political artist and activist Susan Siminsky Bietila, and Lorine Niedecker of course! I truly believe that the revolution is about healing and it will come from the arts.