Photo Credit May Whitsitt
Ollie Schminkey (they/them) has spent the past decade coaching, mentoring, teaching classes, and running workshops for poets. They were the winner of the 2024-25 Palette Previously Published Poem Prize, and their work has been featured everywhere from Poets.org to Frontier Poetry to Upworthy. They’ve performed poems in 21 states, with their work garnering over 3 million views on YouTube. They are the author of four chapbooks and two full-length collections: Where I Dry the Flowers (Button Poetry, 2024) and Dead Dad Jokes (Button Poetry, 2021), which was shortlisted for both the Midwest Independent Publishers Association and the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize. They are the founder and director of the slam poetry tournament Midwest Poetry Mash-Up, and their work has been supported by the Arts Impact for Individuals grant through the Minnesota Regional Arts Council. You can also find them making pottery, dancing in their kitchen, or playing with their cat Pete, who is always trying to eat things he shouldn’t.
They currently teach workshops and classes through Button Poetry and Writers.com.