Jillian Schmidt
Poetry • Picture Books • Plays
Writing
I write stories with humor, heart, and usually one or more of the following:
- Fantastic adventures and wild excuses
- Unexpected friendships and creative collaborations
- Animal facts, especially weird ones
- Banter, wordplay, and very much intended puns
My poem “Dear Unwelcome Visitors,” about a woman tired of being mistaken for a witch just because she lives by the bog, wears black hats, and has several very well-trained cats, appeared in the October 2020 issue of Cricket magazine.
My ten-minute plays have been featured in the Winter Shorts Festival (2022 and 2023) and Collaborations showcase (2023) at Lane Community College.
About Me
Fun Facts
- As a young (and clearly strange) child, I named my favorite teddy bear Jabberwocky.
- In college I played ultimate frisbee and took part in a 48-hour continuous series of games that set a world record at the time.
- I love travel stories and artistic maps, but in real life I have a breathtakingly bad sense of direction and no actual navigational skills.
- For our honeymoon, my husband and I rode a half-recumbent tandem bicycle across the United States. We successfully made it in two months, which is how you can tell I wasn’t the one navigating.
I grew up in Pennsylvania and spent my childhood reading, writing, playing sports, seeing plays, vacationing to minor league baseball parks in obscure small towns, and taking photos of local wildlife because I wanted to become Jane Goodall (a bold goal considering I’d never even gone camping at the time). I also aspired to write epic fantasy novels, but instead spent most of my writing time scribbling goofy poems and stick figure comics to amuse my friends. It took me a while to see the signs, but eventually I happily found my writing sweet spot in humorous poetry, picture books, and plays.
I earned a BA in English and Psychology from Gettysburg College, as well as an MA in English from the University of Virginia. I’ve enjoyed a varied career in education, including teaching composition and psychology courses, working with children and teens on the autism spectrum, advising student-athletes, and supporting dual credit programs.
My husband and I live in Oregon with our energetic young son and our American dingo rescue dog, Karou. I still love getting lost in a good story, a competitive game, or an interesting writing project.
Contact
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