Amanda received an MFA in Fiction from The New School's graduate writing program and was a recipient of a 2017 Jerome Foundation Emerging Artists Award. She taught "From Page to Podcast: Writing Audio Fiction," a course designed with producer/filmmaker Erin Davis, at Middlebury College in 2018 and 2019 and currently teaches creative and critical writing at Pace University in downtown Manhattan.
A retired nightlife performer, she has appeared in theaters, nightclubs, and festivals in Cleveland, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York. In Chicago, she co-produced the Girlie-Q Variety Hour, a monthly queer burlesque and comedy show at the historic Hothouse. As an activist and facilitator, she has led creative projects including anti-violence peer theater workshops in Chicago high schools, and undergraduate creative nonfiction workshops with a focus on writing for social justice. Amanda continues to teach writing to undergraduates.