Bio

Amy Silverman is a mother, wife and obsessive hoarder of craft supplies she’ll never use. She ran kicking and screaming from Arizona as soon as she could, but found herself back – and in love. She got married and had two beautiful daughters, Annabelle and Sophie. Sophie, who will be the first to tell you she is seven and a HALF, has Down syndrome – which, frankly, is the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to Amy. These days, Amy divides the world into two groups: the people who adore Sophie, and the people who don’t look twice. Amy has to remind herself that not so long ago, she fell into the latter category. And therein lies the blog….

That’s the casual version. Here’s the fancy bio.

Amy Silverman is a writer, editor and teacher. She is Managing Editor at Phoenix New Times, the local alternative newsweekly paper where she’s worked for 18 years, covering everything from John McCain to a Phoenix artist who takes a daily photograph of her children — naked. Amy has won several national awards and has twice been named Journalist of the Year by the Arizona Press Club.

That’s her day job. Her other professional passions include memoir writing and teaching. As a regular commentator for KJZZ, the local National Public Radio affiliate, Amy shares stories of her life, particularly regarding her family.

She co-wrote and co-produced a play, “Pearls: Motherhood Unstrung,” which included work by many of the students of the workshop “Mothers Who Write,” which Amy has co-taught with Deborah Sussman Susser since 2002; the class is offered through the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition, she’s taught at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and also through the YMCA’s Writer’s Voice.

Amy’s work has also appeared on the radio show This American Life, and in publications including the Washington Post, the New York Times, Travel + Leisure, salon.com, George, Playboy and Fit Pregnancy.

A Phoenix native, Amy has a B.A. in American Studies from Scripps College in Claremont, California, and a masters degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism in New York City.