Hello.

Welcome to my little corner of the internet. My name is Ilyssa Goldsmith. I am the author of two books of poetry and a Young Adult Fantasy linked short story collection. I am passionate about creating space for authors to cultivate their stories; I love being an open-ear for writers as they work through the challenges they are facing within their writing. I discovered my love of writing at Arizona State University as a Writing Tutor. During this time, I developed my rhetorical toolbox as a mentor and fellow writer, collaborating with students across all disciplines and backgrounds, effectively integrating my understanding of what it means to be an interdisciplinary writer and critical thinker. As a Writing Tutor, I had the opportunity to listen to writers’ concerns and help them work through their concerns while providing them with suggestions for areas of improvement within their work.

It wasn’t until I became the Senior Fiction Editor of Canyon Voices that I truly had the experience of mentoring writers through their creative fiction as I took to the task of suggesting areas of revision while working with contributors. My experiences in education were instrumental in my growth as a writer and editor. My education granted me the opportunity to radically challenge and shift my perspective as a writer, and consequently inspired me to co-create open spaces for other writers like myself to speak and work through the challenges they face everyday while crafting their stories. While I studied at ASU, I collaborated with my peer writers by reviewing their stories and discussing with them ways in which they could strengthen their stories and take them to the next level.

Completing and publishing my novels was a pivotal moment for me. I knew then that I wanted to share the wisdom I had accrued on my journey with writers across the world as they took on the same challenging endeavor of writing a novel and publishing it. I made my goal then and there to be just that — an open, patient, thoughtful, and constant line of support for writers through the entire messy process of writing.

So, stick around for a while. Discover something novel.