Pamela B. Schmid
Pamela Schmid is an award-winning journalist, essayist and creative writer. A Loft Mentor Series winner in nonfiction, she has an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University and has served for more than a decade as the creative nonfiction editor at Sleet, an online literary magazine. Her words have appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, River Teeth, The Common, Tahoma Literary Review, Blue Mesa Review, Baltimore Review and elsewhere. Her essay “Black Roses” was named runner-up for the Wabash Prize for Nonfiction, judged by best-selling memoirist Leslie Jamison. She spent more than a decade as a staff writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and has been a regular contributor to AARP Bulletin and AARP The Magazine. She also has a poem stamped on the sidewalk near her St. Paul, Minnesota home.
Essays
- “Short-lived Ice Portal A Magical Act of Artistry Amid Winter’s Gloom,” Star Tribune Ice Portal essay, February 20, 2021
- “Strangling Angel,” Barren Magazine, 2020
- “Emergence,” Baltimore Review, Winter 2018
- “The Twitter Monologues,” Star Tribune, October 25, 2017
- “Current Obligations,” The Common, April 8, 2017
- “Buttermilk Pancakes,” Tribe Magazine, February 6, 2017
- “Only Eight, He’s Learning Life Lessons in Grandma’s Nursing Home,” Star Tribune, September 22, 2016
- “Good Measure,” Bellevue Literary Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, Fall 2016
- “Enough,” micro essay, Sleet magazine. Vol. 8, No. 1, Spring 2016
- “Texture of Silence,” lyric essay, Blue Mesa Review. Issue No. 33, Spring 2016 (pp. 33-37)
- “I’m Surprised I Miss the Metrodome,” personal essay, Star Tribune. February 9, 2016
- “The Emperor,” lyric essay, Tahoma Literary Review. Vol. 2, No. 3, December 2015 (pp. 58-67)
- “Black Roses,” personal essay, Sycamore Review, Spring 2015
- Meditation on Metaphor, craft essay, A View From the Loft, March 9, 2015
- “Out at Sea,” personal essay, River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative. Vol. 16, No. 1, October 2014
- “My Big Book of Yearning,” personal essay, Sliver of Stone magazine. Issue 7, October 2013
- “Woman Not Coming Back,” personal essay, Sweet: A Literary Confection. Vol. 4, No. 3, May 2012
- Cruising, essay, Rock, Paper, Scissors, Fall 2011
Poetry
- “Winnowing,” Red Rock Review, January 2024
- Untitled, Sidewalk Poetry, St. Paul, Summer 2023
- “Harvest at La Crau,” River Heron Review, June 2023
- “Field Trip,” published in the anthology “Rocked by the Waters,” Nodin Press, March 21, 2020
- “Remains of My Father,” Sleet magazine. Vol. 4, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2012-13
Fiction
- “Grits,” rock paper scissors, Fall 2010
Reviews
- The Wild Truth, by Corrine McCandless. Washington Independent Review of Books, January 21, 2015
Guest blog posts
- “Meditation on Metaphor,” craft essay, A View From the Loft, March 9, 2015
- “On the Importance of Not Knowing,” craft essay, Tahoma Literary Review blog, December 15, 2015
Journalism
- AARP Guide to Modern Problems and their Solutions (contributing writer), May 14, 2024
- AARP The Magazine, June/July 2022
- AARP Bulletin Cover story: Livable Cities, December 2, 2019
- Still Kicking, Star Tribune, February 7, 2007
- Playing in Pain, Star Tribune, January 15, 2006
- Reading Your Own Mind, Star Tribune, December 25, 2005
- Volunteer advocates go one-on-one
- Taking strides towards a more livable community
- Medicaid at 50 reaches 1 million state residents
- Making a difference regardless of age
- So much more than a box of books
- Smart drivers keep up with changes
- Volunteers make a difference
- Property tax-aide aims to uncover savings
- Top priority: stop elder abuse
- Raising donations for older pet owners in Wyoming
Awards
- Finalist, 2016 Phoebe Contest for Nonfiction, judged by author Harrison Scott Key
- Runner-up, 2014 Wabash Award for Nonfiction (Sycamore Review), judged by author Leslie Jamison
- Winner, Loft Mentor Series (nonfiction), 2013–14
- Sports Enterprise Award (third place), Metro Daily Division, MN Associated Press Association, 2006
- Media Award for National Girls and Women in Sports Day, 2005
- First-place, features, Metro Daily Division, MN Society of Professional Journalists, 2002
- First place, features, Metro Daily Division, MN AP Sports Editors Association, 2000
Experience
- Nonfiction Editor, Sleet magazine. 2013–present
- Adjunct, Department of Emerging Media, University of St. Thomas, 2019-2023
- Staff writer, sports and features, Star Tribune
- Newswoman, Associated Press—Minneapolis bureau
Education
- B.A., History, Rhetoric and Communications Studies, University of Virginia
- M.F.A., Creative Writing, Hamline University
Readings
- Speaking Our Peace, Ginkgo Coffeehouse, May 5, 2024
- Writers Resist Twin Cities, Intermedia Arts, January 15, 2017
- Mead Reading, Honey, Minneapolis, January 17, 2016
- Loft Mentor Series Reunion Reading (40 for 40), TERZO Minneapolis, August 21, 2015
- Cracked Walnut Literary Festival—Spectacular Journeys, Butter Bakery Café, Minneapolis, May 18, 2015
- Sleet Read AWP16, Ice House, Minneapolis, April 8, 2015
- Loft Mentor Series Reading, Open Book, Minneapolis, April 18, 2014
- Cracked Walnut Literary Festival – Fitting In, Black Sheep Coffee Café, South St. Paul, April 6, 2014
- Cracked Walnut Literary Festival, Subtext Bookstore, St. Paul, March 21, 2013