Bailey Lewis
Curriculum Vitae
Installations & Exhibitions
ArtFields Festival, Lake City, SC - public art grant recipient, public art installation - The Gumball Machine of Great Fortune (April - May 2026)
Found Oracles, interactive storytelling website - ongoing artist project (from October 2025)
CONNECT Conference, The Duck Pond of Great Fortune - solo event installation (November 2024)
FW Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA, Flying House exhibition, Postcards from an Alien Landscape - group show (October 2013)
Publications
Found Oracles, interactive storytelling website - ongoing artist project (from October 2025)
The Chief Marketer's Playbook, "Guiding Audience-Focused Content CreationIn An Evolving Digital Era," The CMO Club (February 2024)
Adobe Blog, "Create digital content directly in wireframes and prototypes for more intentional, engaging experiences," commissioned article (January 2022)
Adobe Design Thinking, "Digital Content is About What People Are Trying to Do," commissioned article, reprinted and translated into Japanese (September 2021)
Paper Darts, "When the South Wind Blows, Glass Shatters and Disappears Like Rain" - listed in The Wigleaf Top 50 (March 2014)
Northwind, "Séance" - nominated for the Pushcart Prize, awarded second place in Northwind Fiction Contest (November 2013)
Flying House Anthology #4, "Postcards from an Alien Landscape" (October 2013)
Iowa Gothic (May 2013, novel thesis)
Mid-American Review, "Severance" - mention, awarded Sherwood Anderson Award finalist (March 2012 )
Black Fox Literary Magazine, "Twenty-Three" (July 2011)
Dr. Hurley's Snake-Oil Cure, "Leftovers" - awarded in 100-word story contest (June 2011)
Our Stories, "Gutter" - awarded second place in Emerging Writer Contest (March 2009)
Ongoing Substack posts
Readings from original writings, various locations
Awards, Grants & Fellowships
Public Art Grant Recipient, ArtFields Festival, Lake City, SC - The Gumball Machine of Great Fortune (April - May 2026)
The Wigleaf Top 50, listing, "When the South Wind Blows, Glass Shatters and Disappears Like Rain," published in Paper Darts (2014)
Pushcart Nomination, "Séance," published by Northwind, awarded second place Northwind Fiction Contest (November 2013)
Dean's Thesis Fellowship Recipient - outstanding creative excellence in a thesis - for Iowa Gothic (August 2012 - May 2013)
Finalist, Mid-American Review Sherwood Anderson Award, for "Severance" (March 2012 )
Winner, Dr. Hurley's Snake-Oil Cure 100-Word Story Contest for"Leftovers" (June 2011)
Second Place, Our Stories Emerging Writer Contest for "Gutter" (March 2009)
Talks & Keynotes
Girls State PGS, Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC, Your Weakness Is Your Greatest Strength - personal storytelling masterclass (June 2025, upcoming June 2026)
CONNECT Conference, Columbia, SC, Your Weakness Is Your Greatest Strength - personal storytelling masterclass (November 2025)
Content for the People - host and co-host, monthly storytelling masterclasses (January - June 2024)
Carolinas Association of Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society Annual Conference, Asheville, NC - closing keynote session (November 2023)
Association for Talent Development South Carolina, Columbia, SC - digital storytelling session (June 2023)
United States Senate Staff, Washington, D.C. - personal storytelling masterclass (June 2022)
Booking Manager Summit, Zagreb, Croatia - four storytelling keynote sessions (November 2020, November 2021)
World Usability Day, Cleveland, OH - digital storytelling session (October 2019)
UXPA International, Scottsdale, AZ - digital storytelling session, featured presentation (June 2019)
Other interactive storytelling keynotes, sessions, and masterclasses (various venues)
Editorial & Experience Design
Owner/Operator, Interactive Storytelling and Content Strategy Consultancy - Words First, various projects (January 2022 - March 2025)
Director of UX Content Strategy, various projects (April 2015 - December 2021)
UX Writer, various projects (August 2013 - April 2015)
Drunken Boat - editorial staff, digital production editor, publication designer (June 2013 - April 2015)
Hide-and-Seek Muse - book designer (Drunken Boat, 2013)
Yemassee Literary Journal - co-editor-in-chief (August 2012 - May 2013), fiction editor (August 2011 - July 2012)
Editorial director and staff, various literary and art journals
Education
Master's of Fine Arts, Creative Writing (with distinction) - University of South Carolina (2010-2013)
Bachelor's of the Arts, English Literature (with honors) - Iowa State University (2006 - 2010)
Bachelor's of the Arts, Creative Advertising (with honors) - Iowa State University (2006 - 2010)