Jessamyn
Smyth has been exploring the boundaries between literary forms since 2004, when
an agent suggested that sounded better than her previous self-description as a
'cross-genre writer,' and she found the tortured phrase both funny and accurate.
She is the past producer of Naked Theatre Northampton, for which she also wrote
and directed, and is executive director of Basilisk, an only partly-imaginary
production company creating occasional performance of theater, poetry, and
music as inspired. So far, Basilisk has arisen in Western Massachusetts and
Southern Vermont, but it could happen anywhere, any time.
Her short story "A More Perfect Union" in American Letters and
Commentary Issue 17 (November 2005) won listing as one of the "100 Distinguished Stories of 2005" in Best
American Short Stories (2006)
and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She has recently completed a collection
called Green Mountain Prose Poem, and is working on several other books.
Her poetry, short stories, and essays appear in various print and electronic
journals, including Red Rock Review (forthcoming), Nth Position, Abalone Moon, qarrtsiluni, SNReview, The Women's Times 2007 Fiction Issue, For Here or To Go:
Stories from the Service Industry (Garrett County Press, 2004), and more.
Jessamyn's
plays for community theater ("Main Street Love Song,"
"Wolves," "Wake," "Paper Moon," "The
Importance of Being Wild," "Jenny Haniver," and "Hedda
Gabler Has Left The Building") have been produced by Naked Theatre, The
Paul Alexander Gallery, The Country Players, The Shea Theater, and Arena Civic
Theater. Jessamyn also directs other people's plays from time to time, and is committed
to nurturing and supporting local performance by local artists in
non-traditional venues.
She continues her long involvement in work for social justice, violence
prevention and community health, and has taught literature, composition,
theater for social justice and creative writing at
Middlebury
College, The University of
Pennsylvania,
The University of Massachusetts, Keene State
College,
Greenfield
Community College, and in
the community.
Jessamyn has
been honored by several grants including recognition from The Bread Loaf Writer's
Conference (2004) and The Vermont Community Foundation (2007). She earned her
MFA in Writing at
Goddard
College.
