Makar (Scots) - maker, poet

 

Adrianna Smith is a writer and poet whose work seeks to elevate people and communities. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She was a participant at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writers' Conference in 2019, and has extensive experience teaching poetry workshops both locally and internationally. In addition to her published poetry she has also collaborated with composers on musical pieces. 

 

She founded Makar Studio LLC in 2018 to focus on telling creative, in-depth stories of significance. This includes managing and curating a private collection in the Washington, D.C. area. She began hosting Makars, an open mic show-and-tell series, in 2019 and over the course of a year has built a community of over 500 makers and artists. In response to COVID and inspired by this Makars community, she founded Emergent Seed to support emerging writers and composers in the greater DC Metro area with $500 microgrants and the opportunity to broadcast their work through virtual events.

 

Adrianna is passionate about fostering innovation and inclusion in the arts and in education, and previously worked for her alma mater, Georgetown University. She has worked in the edtech and non-profit spaces, and founded a tutoring, writing and mentoring program to develop Latino youth leadership. Adrianna holds an MLitt in Literature from the University of St. Andrews and a B.A. in English and Business Administration from Georgetown University. She is pursuing an MFA at New York University.

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