Maggie Smith on Writing, Art, and Making Peace with the Messy Creative Life
We’re honored to welcome Maggie Smith—renowned poet, bestselling author, and creative voice of a generation—to the Art & Cocktails podcast. In this powerful and generous conversation, Maggie and host Ekaterina Popova explore the emotional realities of creative work, the tension between art and income, and how to keep showing up with honesty in an increasingly automated world.
What We Talk About:
Maggie’s path from poet to full-time writer—and why she still can't believe it’s her job
The unexpected virality of her poem Good Bones and the internal recalibration that followed
Encouragement for creatives juggling day jobs, doubt, and artistic dreams
Navigating unsupportive friends or family during times of creative growth
The beauty of imperfect routines and how real life shapes real art
How to make work that feels truly human in the age of AI
The radical power of reframing consistency and redefining what success looks like in the arts
“The creative process shouldn’t hurt. If it does, something probably needs to shift.”
– Maggie Smith
About Maggie Smith
Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1977, Maggie Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful; My Thoughts Have Wings, a picture book illustrated by SCBWI Portfolio Grand Prize winner Leanne Hatch; the national bestsellers Goldenrod and Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change; as well as Good Bones, named one of the Best Five Poetry Books of 2017 by The Washington Post and winner of the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal in Poetry.
She is also the author of The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison (winner of the Dorset Prize and the Independent Publisher Book Award), and Lamp of the Body (winner of the Benjamin Saltman Award). Maggie’s forthcoming book, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, will be published by Atria/Simon & Schuster on April 1, 2025.
A 2011 recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Smith has received numerous accolades including six Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council, a Pushcart Prize, two Academy of American Poets Prizes, and fellowships from the Sustainable Arts Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Her poetry and essays have been widely published and anthologized in Best American Poetry, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Tin House, The Believer, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Poetry Magazine, and many more. Maggie’s internationally viral poem Good Bones was called “the official poem of 2016” by PRI and has been translated into nearly a dozen languages, choreographed into dance in India, and set to music multiple times—including a reading by Meryl Streep at Lincoln Center.
Smith holds a BA from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MFA from The Ohio State University. She has taught creative writing at multiple institutions, including The Ohio State University, Antioch University Los Angeles, and Gettysburg College. She now works as a freelance writer, editor, and faculty member for the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing.
Listen Now
🎧 Art & Cocktails Podcast: createmagazine.co/podcast
Whether you're a writer, artist, or creative soul navigating this complicated world, this episode is filled with inspiration, honesty, and tools for living a full, beautiful life through your work.
Connect with Maggie Smith
📘 Book: Dear Writer
🌐 maggiesmithpoet.com
📬 Substack: For Dear Life
📸 Instagram: @maggiesmithpoet