Hi, My name is Katie Gilbert. I'm going to come out and say it: I'm a writer. There. Okay. I feel undeservedly brave now. I should list this moment on my resume under job-experience now, right?

On a more serious note, I began actually writing, writing while studying in Ireland with Washington’s 2007 Poet Laureate, Samuel Green and Poetry Ireland/Friends Provident National Poetry Competition winner, Tony Curtis.

I was nineteen, about to be newly single, and was about to be an ex-journalism major so that I could be an english It was awesome. It was the first time I didn't hate poetry. It was also the first time I realized how stupid my younger self was for hating poetry. I wasted so many Aprils despising national poetry month.

I am also a teacher candidate at PSU completing the Graduate Teacher Education Program (GTEP). I am set to graduate in 2020 and hope to become a part of the PPS community afterward.

Since graduating, I began working as a digital marketer and copy editor in San Antonio, TX and Portland, OR. I then decided to pursue my love of literature and writing further. So, I became a teacher candidate at Portland State University while earning my Masters in Education. At the same time, I work on my own poetry and non-fiction writing. You can read some of my work in small presses and local anthologies.

A huge passion of mine now is challenging students to develop key literacy skills, to prepare students for college-level writing, to ask students to engage with texts thoughtfully, and to guide students toward using their writing skills in major ways throughout their lives.