Amy Leach

2010 Winner in
Nonfiction

Amy Leach is the author of Things That Are (2012). Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including A Public SpaceEcotoneTin House, Orion and the Los Angeles Review, among others. Her work has also been included in the Best American Essays and Best American Science and Nature Writing. A graduate of the University of Iowa's MFA program in creative nonfiction, she is the recipient of the Nautilus Book Award, a Pushcard Prize, a Whiting Award in Nonfiction, and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Award. She plays bluegrass and the piano, teaches English, and lives in Bozeman, Montana.

Photo Credit:
Lynn Duggan
Reviews & Praise

"Beautiful, graceful essays . . . It's science made into poetry . . . If you'd like a break from the awfully boring language of adulthood, from customer service numbers and insurance claims, Leach's essays are the perfect escape." —Missoula Independent [on Things That Are]

If Donald Barthelme had made nature documentaries, the commentary might have sounded like this. Lyrical and strange, this engaging book is filled with short tales whose most perfect sentences stay with you, especially in your dreams.” —Huffington Post [on Things That Are]

Selected Works

read more >
From the Selection Committee

The Whiting selection committee was impressed with Ms. Leach “for the sheer audacity of her invention, for the constant bridge too far she manages to cross as she’s building it. The prose is shimmering, filled with vitality and astonishing intelligence. The moments where she makes a swerve into larger philosophic observation are absolutely mindblowing, as is the sense the pieces provide of everything we’re about to lose. She is a true original, has a remarkable mind, a glorious imagination, and shares her fascination with the largest and smallest things of this world.”