Arya Samuelson

Arya Samuelson is a writer, editor, and teacher currently based in Northampton, MA. She was awarded CutBank’s 2019 Montana Prize in Non-Fiction, which was judged by Cheryl Strayed. Her work appears in Bellevue Literary Review, Columbia Journal, New Delta Review, Entropy, Gertrude, The Manifest-Station, Stone Pacific Zine, Half Mystic, and The Millions. She graduated from Mills College with an MFA in Prose and was honored to attend residencies at Wassaic Project (2019), Sundress Academy For The Arts (2020), and Horned Dorset Colony (2022). She has studied at Lidia Yuknavitch’s online school of Corporeal Writing since 2017 and is proud to be part of the Corporeal Coven. Arya is currently writing her first novel, which is about Jewish immigration, women and madness, the messiness of desire, and the inheritance of grief.

In the past, Arya has worked as an advocate for domestic violence survivors, a Supportive Housing Specialist for homeless adults with mental illness, a coordinator at a synagogue, and a grant writer for documentaries and social justice organizations. She is on the Board of Directors for Perugia Press. When she isn’t writing or working, she is making herbal medicines, singing Eastern European choral music, or scouting adorable dogs. She is currently in training to become a Certified Core Energetics Somatic Practitioner.