Amy Zaranek holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from Ashland University. Her writing examines issues of sustainability, agriculture, and military relationships, and her work has appeared in Camas Magazine, HAD, About Place Journal, and elsewhere. Her essay “Countdown to Deployment” won second prize in the 2020 Col. Darron L. Wright awards from Line of Advance and appeared in the anthology OUR BEST WAR STORIES from Middle West Press. She is a Writing By Writers fellow and was a winner of the Writing By Writers Short Short contest in 2022.

Amy is the former managing editor for the Black Fork Review. She also offers freelance editing services and volunteers as a mentor for the Veterans Writing Project.

Amy received her BA in Communication Studies from Wayne State University, where she played collegiate softball. She then worked as a wrangler for four seasons on various ranches in Colorado, where she trained horses and raised cattle and bison, before returning to the Midwest to pursue her MFA. She now lives and writes in Metro Detroit.

In her spare time, Amy enjoys coaching softball, cooking, working out, hiking, and kayaking, as well as spending time with her husband, Jason, her chocolate lab, Lindy, and her family.

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