Episode Details

This episode is a dream come true. Kat sits down with the extraordinary Maggie Smith —poet, bestselling author, and creative soul behind the viral poem Good Bones and the memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful. In this raw and inspiring conversation, they explore the messiness of the creative process, navigating visibility, staying true to your art in the age of AI, and how to keep going when the world (or your family) doesn’t get it.

Whether you're an artist, writer, or creative entrepreneur, this episode is a love letter to your weird, beautiful, evolving path.

In this episode, we talk about:

* How Good Bones changed Maggie’s life—and what came next

* The pain of success not being celebrated by the people closest to you

* Why consistency looks different for every artist (especially caretakers!)

* The trap of turning your creativity into a product

* How to write honestly without sacrificing safety or boundaries

* The importance of keeping your art for you—even when others are watching

💬 Favorite Quotes:

“Make it weirder. That’s the best writing advice I’ve ever given myself.”

“Sometimes you have to pretend no one is watching so you can make what’s real.”

“We don’t get health insurance from poetry. But we do get meaning.”

“I realized I was folding tiny socks while my poem was going viral.”

“You know who your real friends are not just when things go wrong—but when things go right.”

🎤 About Maggie Smith:

Maggie Smith is the author of several bestselling books, including You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Goldenrod, Keep Moving, and the viral poem Good Bones, which was called “the official poem of 2016” by Public Radio International and read by Meryl Streep at Lincoln Center. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Best American Poetry.

A recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council, Smith is also the author of the forthcoming Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life (April 2025, Atria/Simon & Schuster). She teaches in the MFA program at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing and lives in Ohio.

Find her at www.maggiesmithpoet.com and @maggiesmithpoet on social media.

📚 Books Mentioned:

* Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life

* You Could Make This Place Beautiful

* Good Bones

* Keep Moving

* Goldenrod

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📖 Transcript

(Lightly edited)

Kat: Maggie, welcome to Art & Cocktails. I am so unbelievably honored to have you on the show. I’ll tell you a fun story—I had jury duty in March, and I just grabbed a random book off my shelf… and it happened to be your memoir. I was so happy to have jury duty because I could binge-read it—I pretty much read the whole thing that afternoon.

Thank you for writing it. And now you have a brand-new book out—Dear Writer. Congratulations! It’s filled with incredible tools and lessons for the creative life. I can’t wait to jump in.

Maggie: Oh my gosh, that’s so kind. Thanks for having me!

On Becoming a Writer

Kat: For those who may not be familiar with