UnCensored Ink Interview – Nicole Smith

Hey everyone,

Ian Tan here, lead editor and project coordinator of UnCensored Ink: A Banned Book Inspired Anthology, set to release this October 29. Here is the UnCensored Ink interview series to introduce you all to the incredible writers, as well as the local bookstores and libraries that gave them safe creative spaces. Hopefully you can put these incredible places on your to-visit list, and feel inspired to support your own local bookstore, library and indie authors.

Today I am with Nicole Smith from just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is an advocate for mental health and body acceptance. Recently she was published in the Pennsylvania Bards Western PA Poetry Review 2023. If Nicole isn’t writing poetry, you can find her with her nose in a book.

1. You’ve written a fine piece for UnCensored Ink: A Banned Book Inspired Anthology. Can you give us a synopsis? How did the idea for this piece come about?

My poem is about the white-washing of history. In recent years I learned much of what I was taught wasn’t the full truth. “Historians” made our country look heroic and strong, and left out much of the darkness and truths that aren’t pretty to the narrative we perpetuate.

2. Now, we would love to know you more! What do you enjoy doing in your free time, what is your favorite book quote, and how did you get into reading and writing?

In my free time I spend time with my family and I read many, many books. My favorite book quote is from the last page of The Berenstain Bears and Spooky Old Tree, “Home again. Safe at last.” It was my favorite book as a child and my mom would read it in a crazy voice. Now I have taken over reading it, using my spooky voice, and passing the magic on to my kids, nieces, nephews, and cousins. I have been an avid reader since the 1st grade sticker chart and Book It!.

3. Do you have a favorite local library or bookstore? Also can you remember bookstores and libraries from your childhood, if they are not the same as the ones now?

My favorite library is the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, PA. I have

a lifetime of fond memories there.

4. Tell us more about this bookstore/library. What do you love most about it?

My library has been around for well over 100 years. Books have always provided me an escape and the library has been a place of safety for me since I was a child. I volunteered there as a teenager. Every Tuesday I stop and pick up books I have requested. I made some of my first mom friends at Babies and Books, and some of our babies graduated in 2023 from high school. I have gone to Embracing Our Differences Book Club, writing seminars, and a meditation group. The library is such a valuable part of the community. During Covid, when you requested books online, they would bring you the book curbside and place them in your trunk. When the world was falling apart, the library helped keep us sane.

5. What do you have to say on the importance of sustaining bookstores and libraries?

The library is a place to find help with so many things. They are a vital part of the community. They offer so much more than just books these days. Our libraries have books, movies, magazines, games, and e-books. They have people that help with taxes. They offer books-clubs, crafting, teen hangouts, Lego groups and much more. There is always something going on.

6. Do you have any projects that your current and future readers can look forward to?

I have poems being published in a couple of anthologies like Western Pennsylvania Bard Review 2023 and 2024, Tenpenny’s Dreadfuls: Tales as Hard as Nails (September 2024), and Gathering Poetry Anthology 2024 etc.

But if you are looking to keep up with my writing, please follow my blog, linked below.

7. Lastly, what platforms can we find you?

My Blog https://momoetry.wordpress.com/

Insta @Momoetry22

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momoetry