Who Am I?

molly headshot

Poet, radio commentator, life coach, writing teacher, painter of barns and mason jars full of water, mentor, speaker, feminist with a capital F, political activist, sister, aunt, cousin, godmother, honorary grandparent, not-very-old elder, swimmer, former banker, one-time sweater designer, long-walk taker, rearranger of furniture, color maven, nature lover.

Someone titled his painting of me “My life is my message.” I loved that he thought so, and I think he’s right. I’m aiming to be the Molliest Molly I can discover, and that’s what I help other people do too: readers, listeners, students, coaching clients, friends & relations…

molly fisk arms wide

Author of four collections of poems and five compilations of essays/commentary.

Poet Laureate of Nevada County, California (2017-2019), KVMR Community Radio 89.5 FM, Three Forks Bakery & Brewery Co., Nevada City, CA and Hell’s Backbone Grill, Boulder, UT.

  • Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow (2019)
  • Poet Laureate of Nevada County, California (2017-2019)
  • Radio commentator for community radio and NPR
  • National Endowment for the Arts and Corporation for Public Broadcasting grant recipient
  • Winner of the Dogwood Prize (thank you Marilyn Nelson), the Robinson Jeffers/Tor House Prize (thank you Naomi Shihab Nye), the Billee Murray Denny Prize, and the National Writers Union/Santa Cruz Local Prize (thank you Adrienne Rich)
  • BA from Harvard, MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Management

Some excerpts from a talk I gave on creativity. I can’t recall what year, but it was before social media, although cell phones had already taken hold for actual telephoning.

Videography by Larry Huntington

molly on piano
Performing from an early age