About Christy Wise

Christy Wise is a poet, essayist and author. Fourth-generation Californian, Christy’s poetry is informed by deep California roots, love of nature, curiosity about history, and intense belief in justice and equality.

Christy’s poem, Last Day of Prophecy Season, was a finalist in the San Francisco Writers Conference 2022 contest. Her poem Tony’s Cocoon, was a finalist in the 2022 Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize. Several essays received awards included Memory Book, a notable essay in Best American Essays 2010

Christy’s poems and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies including Bayou Magazine, The Ravens Perch, Cathexis Northwest Press, and Upside Down and From Below: Marin Poetry Center Anthology 2022.

With her mother, Nancy Baker Wise, Christy co-authored A Mouthful of Rivets: Women at Work in World War II, a collection of oral histories by women who worked in nontraditional jobs during World War II.

As a reporter, Christy covered politics and government for five California daily newspapers at States News Service and was a beat reporter for The Capital in Annapolis, MD. She was a news writer at WRC radio and KSFO. Christy’s articles have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Jose Mercury News, among others.

Christy served as legislative assistant and deputy press secretary for Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D-WA), and as press secretary for Reps. Norm Dicks (D-WA) and Lloyd Meeds (D-WA).

Christy earned her MFA in poetry from Sierra Nevada University, MALS in classical civilizations from Georgetown University, MA in communication from American University, and BA in communication from Stanford University.