CLAIRE A. SMITH

Claire Smith is a working poet, author, editor and high priestess. After receiving her Bachelors of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she returned to Baltimore, Maryland to follow her dreams, pursuing a career in writing.
Budding in the realm of marketing, she has quickly learned which desires will push her forward. Continuing work at imre and collaborating with other artists, Smith has expanded into a state of consciousness that mimics the work she began in the last decade. This journey into spiritual awareness has propelled her into a perpetual state of consciousness, opening doors of abundance left and right.
Since her upbringing in Ellicott City, Maryland, she has broadened her horizons — leaning outside of the box, critiquing structures that have been built to get in her way and others' and learning how to have less control and more fun in life.
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, Safiya Sinclair, Ayn Rand and Gwendolyn Brooks for their immaculate construction of theme, story, and self.

