Hannah Conwell spent the entirety of her adolescent years’ within reach of the Gulf Shore, but has recently spent the past five years discovering New York City.
As a child, she looks back at her childhood fondly, sunburns and all, because books surrounded her. From an early age, Hannah showed promise as a writer as she excelled in literature and English courses. The first story she wrote that has remained in her memory was about a scarecrow who wanted to stop scaring the crows. From there, Hannah went on to win an illustration award for her art depicting what she wanted to be when she grew up, President of the United States.
Hannah studied at the University of Colorado in Boulder. With the foothills behind her and two degrees — BA in Psychology and BA in Sociology — in front of her, her passions changed from wanting to lead a nation to desiring to tell people’s stories through victim advocacy and forensic psychology. It was during the summer before her graduation from Boulder that a professor told her to “turn her talented eyes toward her craft” and consider writing.
Her degree took her to London, England, where she continued her studies on victim advocacy as well as the arts. There she enrolled in course focused on theatre studies and creative writing. For the first time in the twenty years of her life, Hannah felt at home within herself and her studies while living in a foreign country
After her degree, she left the mountains and the beaches for life in Manhattan. There she has gained experience in writing and design, as well as experience in the book industry, creative thinking, and logic-based insights. She has honed her craft in both creative fiction and non-fiction writing as well as business writing, all while achieving a Master’s degree from New York University.
You can find her rewarding the bookshelves in her apartment with more books, even if she has far too many she still needs to read, walking her American Bully, Smudge around the neighborhood, or enjoying a Guinness at a local pub, where a rich, mahogany bartop reminds her of her time spent abroad.
Hannah conceived the idea of Open When, while reflecting ways she has tried to help her friends and family through trying times. Hannah is actively revisiting her manuscript, initially prepared for her graduate thesis, and prepping it for literary agents as a way to inspire more to understand life’s most difficult times.
Hannah Conwell 