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Amy Schutzer’s first novel, Undertow (Calyx Books, 2000), was a Lambda Literary Award finalist, a Violet Quill Award finalist, and a Today’s Librarian “Best of 2000” Award-winner. She is the recipient of an Astraea Foundation Grant for Fiction and a grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. Finishing Line Press published Taking the Scarecrows Down, a chapbook of poetry, in 2011. She has worked as a U.S. Postal Carrier, a cashier, a bookkeeper, a legal assistant, and a Nabisco factory worker. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
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More about Amy
I’m a New Jersey girl, born in
1956, and lived in the Garden State till 1974, when I
graduated high school. I went to college first in Pennsylvania, then, I
transferred to Antioch College in Ohio, where I graduated in 1979. I majored in
communications. Part of Antioch’s requirement for graduation, is to expand
educational skills through work-study programs. That’s how I came to
Portland, Oregon. I did my work-study program at the Neighborhood House, and
then at KBOO FM radio. After one more quarter at Antioch I moved to
Portland to stay.
I embarked on my writing career as a self-taught writer. To date, I have published one novel, Undertow, (Calyx Books 2000); finished a second novel, The Color of Weather which was a finalist in the 2010 Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest judged by Marge Piercy, and, I’ve just completed the first draft of my fourth novel, working title, The Autobiography of my True Self, and began a fifth book. From 1988–present I have had many poems published in national and local journals/magazines.
From 1982–present, I’ve been a member of The 29th Street Writers, a Portland, Ore. women's writing group, that grew out of a continuing series of classes with an incredible writer and teacher, Judith Barrington. Over the years, I have also taken part in various workshops/classes, including Tom Spanbauer’s Dangerous Writing Workshop at Portland State University, and ongoing critique group, as well as Grace Paley, Paulanne Peterson, Crystal Williams, Carolyn Forché, and Evelyn White.
Awards and grants: Finalist in 2010 Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest, the Violet Quill Award Finalist, InSightOut Books for first fiction, Today's Librarian Best of 2000 Award winner, Lambda Book Award Finalist, Money for Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Lesbian Writers Fund Award for Fiction from Astraea National Lesbian Action Foundation, Hurricane Alice Poetry Contest, National Writers' Union, Local 7 Poetry Contest Honorable Mention, Willamette Week Poetry Contest 1st Place.
I’ve lived in Oregon for thirty-four years, which makes me third growth according to forest standards. For seven years I lived in Estacada on a women’s intentional community known as We’Moon. The rest of the years I’ve been in Portland. I consider myself a country dyke living in the city. I make a home with my partner Patricia. Rounding out the household are 1 cat and 1 dog, and a menagerie of houseplants.
I’ve worked at an odd assortment of jobs: Nabisco factory worker, U.S. Postal Carrier, cashier, bookkeeper, V.I.S.T.A. Volunteer, We’Moon Calendar editor, and presently as a legal assistant to a solo attorney practicing personal injury law.
I’m an avid organic gardener. Besides the plot in the backyard, I have a plot with Portland’s Community Gardens. I have volunteered as the garden manager over the last three years, and contribute extra produce to Produce 4 People. Along with all the veggies and flowers, I’ve planted a variety of small fruit trees, and berries in our yard. I have also volunteered my time with Portland Fruit Tree Project, an organization that helps homeowners and city orchards maintain fruit trees. In turn, the extra fruit is donated directly to those in need and to Portland Food Bank, an organization fighting hunger.
Last year I took up the ukulele, along with most of Portland, and kayaking.
I embarked on my writing career as a self-taught writer. To date, I have published one novel, Undertow, (Calyx Books 2000); finished a second novel, The Color of Weather which was a finalist in the 2010 Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest judged by Marge Piercy, and, I’ve just completed the first draft of my fourth novel, working title, The Autobiography of my True Self, and began a fifth book. From 1988–present I have had many poems published in national and local journals/magazines.
From 1982–present, I’ve been a member of The 29th Street Writers, a Portland, Ore. women's writing group, that grew out of a continuing series of classes with an incredible writer and teacher, Judith Barrington. Over the years, I have also taken part in various workshops/classes, including Tom Spanbauer’s Dangerous Writing Workshop at Portland State University, and ongoing critique group, as well as Grace Paley, Paulanne Peterson, Crystal Williams, Carolyn Forché, and Evelyn White.
Awards and grants: Finalist in 2010 Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest, the Violet Quill Award Finalist, InSightOut Books for first fiction, Today's Librarian Best of 2000 Award winner, Lambda Book Award Finalist, Money for Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Lesbian Writers Fund Award for Fiction from Astraea National Lesbian Action Foundation, Hurricane Alice Poetry Contest, National Writers' Union, Local 7 Poetry Contest Honorable Mention, Willamette Week Poetry Contest 1st Place.
I’ve lived in Oregon for thirty-four years, which makes me third growth according to forest standards. For seven years I lived in Estacada on a women’s intentional community known as We’Moon. The rest of the years I’ve been in Portland. I consider myself a country dyke living in the city. I make a home with my partner Patricia. Rounding out the household are 1 cat and 1 dog, and a menagerie of houseplants.
I’ve worked at an odd assortment of jobs: Nabisco factory worker, U.S. Postal Carrier, cashier, bookkeeper, V.I.S.T.A. Volunteer, We’Moon Calendar editor, and presently as a legal assistant to a solo attorney practicing personal injury law.
I’m an avid organic gardener. Besides the plot in the backyard, I have a plot with Portland’s Community Gardens. I have volunteered as the garden manager over the last three years, and contribute extra produce to Produce 4 People. Along with all the veggies and flowers, I’ve planted a variety of small fruit trees, and berries in our yard. I have also volunteered my time with Portland Fruit Tree Project, an organization that helps homeowners and city orchards maintain fruit trees. In turn, the extra fruit is donated directly to those in need and to Portland Food Bank, an organization fighting hunger.
Last year I took up the ukulele, along with most of Portland, and kayaking.
