Amy Minato is author of a memoir Siesta Lane, (Skyhorse Press, 2009) and two poetry collections: Hermit Thrush, (Inkwater Press, 2016) and The Wider Lens, (Ice River Press, 2004). Amy has been a recipient of both a Literary Arts Fellowship for her poetry and a Walden Residency for her prose. She teaches writing through Literary Arts, Multnomah Art Center, Fishtrap and at Breitenbush Retreat Center. Amy holds both an MFA in Creative Writing and an MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon. She teaches sustainable living education at Portland State University and lives with her husband and two children in Portland, Oregon. In summers they migrate to their old haunts in the Wallowa Mountains of Eastern Oregon to skip rocks on the lake, float innertubes down the creek behind their house and sleep beneath skies crazy with stars.