Lisa W. Schamess
Writer Editor 1349 Newton Street, NW Phone 202 232 1421 Washington, D.C. 20010EmailHomepage
More than 15 years of experience in writing, editing, and providing web content for trade groups, nonprofits, government agencies, and professional societies. Knowledge in a variety of fields, including smart growth, community design, architecture, planning, transportation, health and human services, and sustainable economic development. Experienced in curriculum design, teaching, and facilitation of writing and creativity workshops in a variety of settings, including nonprofit organizations, NGOs, and college preparatory institutions. Prize-winning novelist.
Recent Experience
Hagen/Sinclair Research Recruiting
Generated leads for research marketing focus groups on a project basis
National Vacant Properties Campaign
Editing and writing of action plans and assessments for communities seeking to reclaim vacant properties and create new markets for housing and commercial space
Smart Growth America
Editing and writing of reports to funders and constituents
Pact, Inc.
Curriculum Design and Workshop Facilitation, WriteShop Pilot Project, June 2004
Emerson Preparatory Institute
English Literature, Composition, and Creative Writing Instructor, 2003-present
Montgomery College
Adjunct Lecturer, English Composition, Summer-Fall 2005
American University
Web Content Designer, Graduate Program in Creative Writing Web Site, 2002-2003 (no longer live)
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Independent Contractor on book projects
Two Heads Communications
Owner, 1995-2000
Managed two-person company specializing in public policy writing and communications for nonprofits, associations, and government agencies. Clients included the American Institute of Architects, American Planning Association, Institute of Transportation Engineers, National Academy of Sciences/Transportation Research Board, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, U.S. Department of Transportation, National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Surface Transportation Policy ProjectCommunications Manager, 1991-1994. Program Assistant, 1990-1991.
Helped to found the broad-based coalition of public interest groups that was instrumental in the passage and implementation of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1990, a widely recognized turning point in federal transportation law.
Selected Publications and Honors Public Policy and Feature Writing Contributing Author,
At Road’s End: Transportation and Land Use Choices for Communities. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1995. Daniel Carlson and Cy Ulberg, co-authors.
Contributing Writer,
Planning Magazine, 1995-1999. Contributed articles on transportation, land use planning, parking policies, and retail development in cities and small towns.
Fiction Borrowed Light, a novel, Southern Methodist University Press, October 2002.
“What the Body Is Saying,” anthologized in
Grace and Gravity, October 2004.
“The Essential Thing, Forgotten,”
Glimmer Train Magazine, Spring 2000.
“Credit Limit,”
Antietam Review, 1996.
New MediaColumnist,
Beliefnet. Author of columns on family life, Judaism, and coping with loss, including essays on 9/11 and the Terri Schiavo case (2002-present). Regular columnist, "Widow’s Walk: The Journey through Mourning" (2000-2002).
Grants and Fellowships D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Artist Fellowship, 2004.
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in residency June 2004, August 1996, September 1995.
Texas Institute of Letters, Steven Turner Award for Best First Fiction, 2002.
Texas Institute of Letters, Finalist for the Jesse Jones Award for Best Fiction, 2002.
Paterson Fiction Prize, Finalist, 2002-2003.
Education MFA in Creative Writing, American University, May 2005.
BFA in Theatre,
cum laude, Southern Methodist University, 1985.
