As a child, Heidi Smith grew up in Chicago and began expressing herself through the written word and poetry. Her works were published during her childhood and she also won several local and academic awards for her work.
Heidi Smith had the honor of being awarded a scholarship to a private high school and also attended college courses during her high school years. Raising a family took her away from writing for a bit, after high school; however Ms. Smith soon went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Illinois University, followed by earning a Master of Arts in Humanities from California State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Goddard College.
Recently, many of Heidi Smith's poems have found their way to publication in an assortment of journals and she has also published a scholarly thesis on the German artist George Grosz.
The Clara Ann Burns Story is Ms. Smith's first novel. Readers can learn more about Heidi Smith and her work by visiting The Monkey Puzzle Press website.
Please tell us a bit about your book and what you hope readers take away from reading it.
The Clara Ann Burns Story registers things that abuse and devalue a child. Clara, the protagonist, measures these things by chronicling a war not typically found in history books. There are different battlefields but all wars begin in homes, in thoughts and on tongues. My hope is that the book instantiates the unsustainability of validating truth by vilifying others and provokes questions concerning the shapes, sizes and colors of affliction.
Who are your favorite characters in the story?
My favorite character is the protagonist Clara. She is the one who shows us what love is.
Do you have a favorite line or excerpt from your book?
WHEN I
WAS A SMALL CHILD
I SAW MY MOTHER’S SHOES
BEFORE SHE FOUND ME
TOUCHING MYSELF
UNDER HER
BED
IT’S NOT THE FACTS I’M WORRIED ABOUT
IT’S THE TRUTH
I AM A
BROKEN GLASS
PIECES MY
MOTHER THREW
AWAY CUTTING
HER FINGERS
TO THE BONE
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