MFA student Amy Hirayama Apprentices with Writers in the Schools
Amy Hirayama, a second-year student in the MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics, was recently selected to serve as an apprentice in Seattle Arts and Lectures’ Writers in the Schools Program. In this newly-created role, Hirayama, a former middle school teacher, will serve as a Writer-in-Residence alongside an established WITS teacher at Evergreen High School, gaining experience, mentorship, and professional development while working in an area of education she is passionate about. Profiled last month on SAL’s blog, SAL/ON, Hirayama talks about her ideal Sunday ritual, the talismans she keeps on her desk, and what she is reading. She also discusses her writing practice and gives some insight into her forthcoming chapbook Hariboetry:
“I like to give myself prompts and parameters for new projects. I recently completed a series of poems where each piece was inspired by the name of a Haribo gummy candy. I have a small writing group with a couple of friends and we take turns giving each other prompts to play with.”
Hirayama is a 2021-2022 Imagining America PAGE fellow. Her poetry can be found in the fall/winter 2021 issue of Strait Up magazine. Together with MFA students Carson Thomas (2022) and Amy Eldridge (2023), Hirayama also curates the Gamut reading series, which brings together current students, alumni, and faculty for quarterly events, currently held on Zoom.