Joe Amato

Joe Amato (he/him) was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1955, and raised in the metro area. He completed his undergraduate degrees in mathematics and mechanical engineering at Syracuse University, and his MA and DA in English at the State University of New York at Albany. A licensed professional engineer in New York State, he spent seven years in industry working in various project engineering capacities. 

Amato is the author of multiple books of prose, poetry, and digital art including Samuel Taylor's Hollywood Adventure (Bordighera Press, 2018), Sipping Coffee @ Carmela's (Lit Fest Press, 2016), and Pain Plus Thyme (Factory School, 2008). Amato and his late writing partner Kass Fleisher authored a number of screenplays, several of which reached the semifinal rounds of the Nicholl Fellowship, Austin Film Festival, and Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project Fellowship competitions. 

Amato was the production manager at Steerage Press, founded by Fleisher in 2011. Amato is Associate Professor Emeritus, having taught creative writing and literature for twenty years with the Department of English at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. He now resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.