Jamie Lyn Smith is a writer, editor, and teacher. She earned her BA in English and Drama from Kenyon College, her Masters in Education from Fordham University, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Ohio State. She reads fiction for The Kenyon Review and co-edited the Fall 2024 “Rural Spaces" folio with Brian Michael Murphy and Andrew Grace. Her work with young writers includes service as a founding member of BreakBread Literacy Project and BreakBread Magazine, and founding the litmag, Bridge.

Jamie Lyn recently began serving as Chapter Leader of a new PEN ACROSS AMERICA site in Ohio, with activities slated to begin in May 2025. PEN Across America supports a vibrant array of activities in communities outside major metropolitan coastal cities (New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles). At a moment when communities across the country are polarized and disengaged with one another, PEN America aims to promote dialogue across borders of any kind and elevate all voices, especially those that have been traditionally marginalized. We’re engaging Members and reaching new audiences with literary events, consequential discussions, and other activities that support our shared mission to celebrate the written word and defend free expression worldwide.

Jamie Lyn's work has appeared in The Writer’s Chronicle, The Pinch, The Mississippi Review, The Kenyon Review, American Literary Review, Ploughshares and other fine literary magazines. Her short story collection, Township, debuted from Cornerstone Press in January 2022. She is the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in Fiction. A lifelong advocate for voting rights and freedom of expression, she lives, writes and works in rural Ohio but New York will always be home.