CLAIRE  A. SMITH

Claire Smith  is a working poet, author and editor. She has been reading since before she could say a full sentence aloud and has been writing for more than 10 years. After receiving her Bachelors of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she returned to Baltimore, Maryland where she found a copywriting position at imre agency and began her spiritual journey, leading to the release of personal energy readings.

 

From her early years in Ellicott City, Maryland, she has since broadened her horizons — leaning outside of the box, critiquing structures that have been built to get in her way and others'. Understanding how she thrives as an individual, cast out and integrated, has greatly influenced her writing as it grapples with understanding who you are and how you are perceived by those around you. Her work has widely expanded into the likes of the intersections of her identity—female, queer, African American and Dutch. She looks to Audre Lorde, Wangechi Mutu, Ntozake                                 Shange, Ayn Rand and Gwendolyn Brooks for their imma-                                   culate construction of theme, story, and self.