Bio
Short Bio
Liza Achilles is the author of Two Novembers: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets (Beltway Editions, 2024). She was awarded a FY26 Artists & Scholars Project Grant from the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County to complete her autobiographical novel. Her writing has appeared in Exacting Clam, Tofu Ink Arts Press, Washington Independent Review of Books, Brief Wilderness, and The Headlight Review, among other publications. Visit lizaachilles.com to learn more and read her Blog for the Discerning Reader. She lives near Washington, DC.
Long Bio
Thank you for visiting my website! I’m glad you’re here. My name is Liza Achilles, pronounced LIE-zuh uh-KIL-ease. This is my real name (not a pen name).
My Shakespearean sonnet sequence, Two Novembers: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets, was published by Beltway Editions on July 1, 2024. Poems from this collection have appeared in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, The Headlight Review, Tofu Ink Arts Press, Brief Wilderness, The Big Windows Review, Burrow, and Exacting Clam. My nonfiction has appeared in Washington Independent Review of Books and the Silent Book Club blog, as well as independent blogs. Two Novembers was selected for DCTRENDING magazine’s Summer Booklist 2024. The Blog for the Discerning Reader has been active since 2018 and attracts thousands of readers each month.
In 2026, I was awarded a FY26 Artists & Scholars Project Grant from the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County to complete my autobiographical novel on the intersection of philosophy, psychology, spirituality, and consciousness—and a secret I kept for 30+ years. In 2016, I was a Semi-Finalist in the William Faulkner–Wisdom Creative Writing Competition for my unpublished historical novel The Water-Creatures.
I have English degrees from Northwestern University (B.A.) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (M.Ed.). My career as a high school English teacher turned into a career in writing and editing when I landed a job at a publishing house run by Pleasant Rowland, founder of American Girl. Since then, I have engaged in educational writing, proposal writing, business writing, policy writing, and technical writing, including a project for the Obama White House. I served as Policy Technical Writer as a contractor to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), focusing on IT policy, until I was laid off due to federal budget cuts in March 2025. I am now a freelance writer, editor, web designer, graphic designer, and teacher.
The greater Washington, DC, area is my home. Although I was born here and currently live here, much of my childhood and adulthood was spent elsewhere; I’m glad to be back. In addition to reading and writing, I enjoy running and attending events and shows in the arts, including theater, literature, visual art, music, and comedy.
