Lindsey Lewis Smithson has her MFA in Creative Writing, majoring in Poetry, from UC Riverside’s Palm Desert Low Residency MFA. She served as the Poetry Editor, and later the Managing Editor for The Coachella Review, in addition to having read for The Pacific Review and The Whistling Fire. She was the founder and editor of Straight Forward Poetry until she had pull back to focus on her kids during the pandemic. She resides in Colorado with her dog, her kids, and her man. Outside of reading and writing Lindsey has a deep passion for the LA Kings, garden gnomes, cross stick with profanity, Stardew Valley.