Bio

Amy Klauke Minato is author of two poetry collections: Hermit Thrush, (2016, Inkwater Press) and The Wider Lens,  (2004, Ice River Press) as well as a creative nonfiction book, Siesta Lane,( 2009, Skyhorse Press). She holds both an MFA in Creative Writing and an MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon.

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Her poetry has been recognized with a 2003 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship and her prose with a Walden Fellowship. Minato’s writing has been published in Wilderness Magazine, Poetry East, Windfall, Cottonwood, Cimarron Review and Oregonian Poetry Corner among others, and in several anthologies including From Here We Speak: An Anthology of Oregon Poetry and Deer Drink the Moon: Poems of Oregon.

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Amy teaches writing in schools through Literary Arts and Community of Writers, and in writing workshops at Breitenbush Conference Center and throughout the Pacific Northwest. She also teaches a course in sustainabiity living at Portland State University.

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Amy acts as a private writing coach and tutor.

She hails from Chicago, although she and her husband, Joe, and her children Mateo and Ruby, currently split their time between Portland, Oregon and the Wallowa mountains of eastern Oregon.

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Poetry Publications by Amy Minato

Aeolian                                                Wallowa County Anthology

At Blacklock Point                              Windfall

Ballet of a Life Cycle*                        Wilderness Magazine

Bird Haven                                         Silverfish Review

Elders                                                  We’ Moon Calendar

Endangered Species                           Wild Earth

Epiphanies                                          Cimarron Review

Erotics                                                Fireweed

Geothermal                                         Writing Nature

Hermit Thrush                                    Windfall

In Defense of Defense*                       Organization and Environment & Rhonde Dance

Inversion of the Food Chain               Writing Nature

Lament                                                Walking Bridges Using Poetry as a Compass

Log Song                                             VoiceCatchers 2 Anthology

Love Song of the White Pine*            Poetry International

Mating Season                                    Writing Nature

Nye Beach                                           VoiceCatchers 2 Anthology

Place of the Bear                                Deer Drink the Moon Anthology

Precision*                                           Oregonian Poetry Corner

Ritual                                                  VoiceCatchers 2 Anthology

Roost                                                   Writing Nature

Roses                                                   Restoration and Management Notes

Salamander                                         Silverfish Review

Serenade                                             Ronde Dance

Silverspot                                            Siesta Lane

Sirens                                                  Silverfish Review

Tailors                                                Restoration and Management Notes

The Way to Sky                                   Breitenbush Magazine

Toward the Earth First                       Wild Earth

Weekly Service                                    Hard Love: An Anthology on Violence &Intimacy

Wider Lens*                                        Hard Love: An Anthology on Violence & Intimacy

Willow                                                 Siesta Lane

The following poems have been published in a chapbook entitled The Wider Lens, Ice River Press, 2004:

Aerial*, Birding, Specimens*, Christmas Bird Count*, Lunacy, Nocturnal, Second Glance*, Spider, Dance Partners, Night Poem, Tracks, Green Eye, Estuary and Your Sea Around Us.

*these poems were reprinted in the nature memoir Siesta Lane by Amy Minato, Skyhorse Press, 2009