Hello Friends,
 

I am a writer with a background in comedy and theater. I got my first taste for the thrill of writing in middle school when I won an award for a silly poem about lunch ladies. The poem was published in our middle school newspaper and may have been read by as many as six people! The Pulitzer Committee has not gotten back to me yet. I currently write short, humorous essays for Substack and have a following of slightly more than six people. I am hoping to expand my current work to collaborate with libraries, museums, and universities in promoting their programs with a dose of fun. 

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I studied theater in college, playing kooky characters, but my heart was stolen by improv comedy when I moved to New York after graduation. There is nothing in the world as exhilarating as coming up with a funny line on the spot and being immediately rewarded with laughter. While improv is very much like writing, only with an audience in front of you, I also took a number of writing classes at Gotham Writer’s Workshop. These classes led to an opportunity to write a feature article about a historic comedy club in Brooklyn for Time Out New York. Years later, I used these writing skills to write major donor profiles for development work at Harvard University, which is very fancy of me. 

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I love writing humorous essays, but I also enjoy journalism, copywriting, and creative writing. I like to learn about new subjects while writing, for instance, did you know that goats sometimes have wattles? I learned about them while writing an essay about my neck. I approach everything I write with a sense of curiosity and an ability to make connections. This skill is particularly useful in digital spaces like social media which require developing relationships and building community. Goats like it, too. 

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Years ago, when I was very involved in portrait painting, I had a show in the gallery of our local library. The show was called “Little Biographies” because my paintings contained words and images alongside the portraits. More than just an image of a person, the paintings told the story of who the person was. A lot of thought and design went into each picture in order to capture a whole personality. In all of my creative endeavors, and especially writing, I try to capture more than just the basics. Every idea can be full of life. 

 

In seeking work outside of my Substack silliness, I’d like to find opportunities to produce engaging content for organizations that promote a culture of curiosity and joy. My goal is to produce engaging copy for organizations who’s work I find personally meaningful. An ideal situation for me would be collaborating with a talented team to create top-notch communications and marketing results.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about my work, my professional portfolio can be found here or on my home page. And if you like silliness and jokes, you can access my essays on Substack. For all other inquiries, I’d be delighted to answer questions via email at miastendahl@gmail.com.