Sherri L. Smith

2009 Alumna

Cottage: Waterfall

BIO: Sherri L. Smith is a writer, an Enchantivist, and the founder of Story Forest, a liminal space where writers follow the old tales to find their own path.  She is the author of nine award-winning fiction and nonfiction books for young people including the 2021 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award winner, The Blossom and the Firefly and the California Book Awards Gold Medalist, Flygirl.  Her novels appear on multiple state reading lists and have been named Amelia Bloomer, Junior Library Guild, Children's Book Council, Southern California Independent Booksellers Award, and American Library Association Best Books for Young People selections.  She also writes comics, including Wonder Woman, Bart Simpson Comics, and James Cameron's Avatar.  Sherri holds a certificate in the Art of Archetypal Fairy Tale Analysis from the Assisi Institute, and a certificate in Enchantivism from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she is currently studying Applied Mythology.  Enchantivism is a form of "activism for introverts" that uses deep storytelling, mythology, dreams and the environment to enact positive change in the world.  Sherri teaches in the MFA Writing Program at Goddard College and the MFA in Children’s Writing Program at Hamline University.  She is the 2021 Mina Hohenburg Darden Visiting Professor at Old Dominion University.