ABOUT

I’m Amy Wilson Sheldon.

I’m a writer, editor, literary event producer, and communications consultant.

The name of this site — A Lifely Read — came about in 2014, when I started a blog about books while living with my family in Dublin, Ireland. My posts touched upon how “real life” can be found in fiction, so I decided to play with the sentiment “Well, that was a lively read!” In 2018, I wanted to see if I could translate the ideas that I explored in the blog to Instagram. I did (and do), and now you can find the majority of those posts hosted on this site as well.

Using books as a foil, I often write about home + place, migration + culture, community + connectiveness, relationships, as well as what I call “reading culture” — publishing trends, libraries + bookstores, reading habits. In addition to these blog posts and what I’ve dubbed “Instagram Micro-Essays,” you can also find on this site details about the book I’m working on; my other published writing; as well as information about the literary events I’ve produced, including MetroWest Readers Fest.

In other worlds and lifetimes, I’ve worked as: a communications director for a nonprofit, a programme assistant for the Dublin Book Festival, a copyeditor and proofreader for Random House/Vintage Books, an after-school director, a media literacy educator, a book reviewer (Books Ireland, Dublin Review of Books, The Curator), and a magazine writer. (Lucky me: My first post-college job was working with an amazing group of folks at then-upstart Fast Company magazine in the Scotch ‘n Sirloin building in Boston’s North End.) I hold degrees from Tufts University (BA) and New School University (MA).

Although I can’t really quantify this experience — nor can I put it on an official CV — one of my biggest strengths is a knack for sussing out what makes individuals and groups tick and then finding a way to tell or share that “story.” How’d I fine-tune this abstract knowhow? Mostly by moving around a lot (Seattle, Boston [twice], Charlotte [twice], NYC [twice], Dublin — and Los Angeles if you want to get technical and count my first 6 months) and getting up to speed quickly on what people care about and talk about as well as how they share that information.

I’m now back living in the lovely Queen City (that is, Charlotte) with my husband — and sometimes with two college-aged kids who pop in to North Carolina every so often.