Teachers

Carolyn Abram is a Seattle-based writer. Her work tends to focus on the intersection of technology and everyday life. Her short fiction has appeared in various publications, including the New California Writing Anthology and The Offbeat. Her work has also appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and Lilith. She is the author of eight editions of Facebook for Dummies. She holds degrees from Stanford and California College of the Arts.

Website: carolynabram.com

Samar Abulhassan is a Jack Straw Writer and holds an M.F.A. from Colorado State University. Born to Lebanese immigrants and raised with multiple languages, she is a 2006 Hedgebrook alum and the author of six chapbooks, including Farah and Nocturnal Temple. Samar has worked with youth at Hugo House since 2012 and with Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools since 2008. Samar also recently participated in the 2024 Skagit River Poetry Festival. In 2016, Samar received a CityArtist grant to aid in completing a novel-in-poems reflecting on memory, longing, and the Arabic alphabet. Samar often finds inspiration in images and places and replicates these techniques in her teaching. She also loves to dance and is interested in the intersection between movement and writing.  

Dilruba Ahmed is the author of Bring Now the Angels (Pitt Poetry Series, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020). Her debut book of poetry, Dhaka Dust (Graywolf Press), won the Bakeless Prize. Her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, New England Review, Ploughshares, and Poetry. Her poems have also been anthologized in The Best American Poetry 2019 (Scribner), Halal If You Hear Me (Haymarket Books), Literature: The Human Experience (Bedford/St. Martin’s), Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry (University of Arkansas), and elsewhere. Ahmed is the recipient of The Florida Review’s Editors’ Award, a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Prize, and the Katharine Bakeless Nason Fellowship in Poetry awarded by the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. She holds degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and Warren Wilson College’s MFA Program for Writers.

Website: www.dilrubaahmed.com

Instagram: dilruba_ahmed20, https://www.instagram.com/dilruba_ahmed20/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dilruba.ahmed Web: https://www.dilrubaahmed.com/writing-lab

Naa Akua, is a New York-born poet, actor, educator, and sound-word practitioner who is Ghanaian/Bajan and queer. Akua uses the vibratory energy of sound and the intent of words as a vehicle towards healing. Akua, former 2019 Citizen University Poet-in-Residence is a Writers in the Schools (Seattle Arts & Lectures) Writer-in-Residence at Franklin High School, Hugo House teacher, and Young Women Empowered (Y-WE) youth facilitator. www.naaakua.com

Steve Almond [www.stevealmondjoy.org] is the author of a dozen books, including the NYT Bestsellers “Candyfreak” and “Against Football.” He’s the recipient of an NEA grant for 2022 and teaches at Harvard and Wesleyan. His work has been published in the Best American Short Stories, the Best American Mysteries, Best American Erotica, and the New York Times Magazine. His first novel, “Which Brings Me to You” was made into a major motion picture starring Lucy Hale. His second novel, “All the Secrets of the World,” is under development by 20th Century Fox. His new book, “Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow” is about craft, where stories come from, and the struggle to write.

Meredith Arena is a queer writer and interdisciplinary teaching artist from New York City with 18 years of teaching experience with youth ages 5-15, both in afterschool and school-day arts integration. She likes to challenge authority, play theater games, garden, draw and wander. Her work can be found in various journals including Longleaf Review, Entropy, Lunch Ticket, and Peatsmoke. She holds an MFA in creative writing and a Certificate in the Teaching of Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. She hopes her students tune into their inherent creativity so they can access it when they most need it.

Daemond Arrindell is a writer and teaching artist. Adjunct Faculty at Seattle University and Cornish College for the Arts; a 2013 Jack Straw Writer; and a 2014 VONA/Voices Writer’s Workshop fellow.
He has performed across the country and has been repeatedly commissioned by Seattle and Bellevue Arts Museums.

J Asarnow is an award-winning story editor, podcast producer, and educator whose work spans journalism, documentary, and audio art. They created and led KUOW’s RadioActive Youth Media, and their site-specific works include The Corner: 23rd and Union and Saltwater Soundwalk.

Sally Ashton is a poet, writer, teacher, and editor-in-chief of DMQ Review, an online journal featuring poetry and art. Publishing in three genres, she is the author of five books of poems including the just-released Listening to Mars (Cornerstone Press, 2024) and The Behaviour of Clocks (WordFarm, 2019). She lives in California where she taught writing at San José State University for ten years and continues to teach workshops locally, Zoom, and currently online through Hugo House. Her prose poem “4.6 Billion Years” will go to the Moon as part of the Lunar Codex project via the Griffin/VIPER mission in 2024. Learn more at www.sallyashton.com. 

Rachel is a writer, educator, and editor based in Portland, OR. Her writing has appeared in n+1, Porter House Review, X-R-A-Y and more. She is a prose reader for The Adroit Journal and holds an MFA from Oregon State University.

Peter Bacho is the author of seven books: Cebu, Dark Blue Suit, Boxing in Black and White, Nelson’s Run, Entrys, and Leaving Yesler. His latest book, Uncle Rico's Encore, was released earlier this year. His books have received several awards, including the 1992 American Book Award. He is an adjunct professor at The Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus. Bacho was born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in Seattle’s Central District.

Taneum Bambrick is the author of Intimacies, Received (Copper Canyon Press, Sept 27th 2022) and Vantage, winner of the APR/Honickman First Book Award (American Poetry Review 2019). She received support from Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and Vermont Studio Center. A 2020 Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, she is currently a Dornsife Fellow in the PhD program at the University of Southern California. Her work appears in The New Yorker, The Nation, Academy of American Poets, PEN, and elsewhere. 

Describe your teaching style.

I veer on the side of giving students more to say and do rather than trying to create limits. My hope is that students leave my classes feeling inspired to work on book-length projects, knowing our relationship is not limited to the classroom and that we can meet again later if they need to run ideas by someone.

Elan Barnehama is the author of the novels Escape Route and Finding Bluefield. His writing has appeared widely in print and online journals. Elan was the flash editor for ForthMagazineLA. He teaches literature and writing. More @ https://elanbarnehama.com

Kaveh Bassiri is a writer and translator. He is the author of 99 Names of Exile, winner of the Anzaldúa Poetry Prize, and Elementary English, winner of the Rick Campbell Chapbook Prize. His poems have been published in a number of journals and anthologies, including Best American Poetry 2020, Best New Poets 2020, The Heart of a Stranger, and Somewhere We Are Human. Bassiri is the recipient of the 2022 & 2023 Tulsa Artist Fellowship and a 2019 translation fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Arkansas and an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. He teaches creative writing at the University of Tulsa.

Website: kavehbassiri.com

Andrew Bell is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and educator from the Pacific Northwest. His short film work has played at festivals worldwide and is broadcast internationally on ShortsTV, BloodydisgustingTV, and streaming on CryptTV. He is currently working on his first feature film and doing what he loves most—mentoring young writers, actors, and filmmakers. He holds an MFA from Columbia University.

Describe your teaching style.

I invest deeply in my students and their work. My approach is kind, encouraging, and supportive, while pushing writers to do the work and tell the best version of their story. Students should expect to be challenged and supported, by both the instructor and their fellow writers.

Jeff Bender is a fiction and comedy writer whose work has appeared in McSweeney's, The Hard Times, Electric Literature, Sports Riot, Fence, The Iowa Review, and a lot of places. In 2023 he co-wrote McSweeney's 8th most-read article.

Describe your teaching style.

I have a plan but try to listen to the group as much as possible and let the personality of the class influence what we do.

Soumeya Bendimerad Roberts is a literary agent and VP, Foreign Rights, at HG Literary. 

In fiction, Soumeya is seeking literary and upmarket novels and collections, and also represents realistic young-adult and middle-grade. She likes books with vivid voices and compelling, well-developed story-telling, and is particularly interested in narratives by people of color and fiction that reflects on the post-colonial world. She’s currently on the hunt for narratives set in enclosed settings, stylized literary takes on genre (especially literary thriller and suspense), novels set in other countries or shot through with elements of travel, family sagas, historical narratives (especially those that intertwine with the present), honest, updated, politically charged takes on the domestic family novel, and unconventional love stories. A lover of craft, she is drawn to observant writing that illuminates dynamic relationships between complex but sympathetic characters, intelligent experiments with form, and stories that enchant and transport the reader in authentic and inventive ways. In non-fiction, she is primarily looking for idea-driven or voice-forward memoirs, personal essay collections, and approachable narrative non-fiction of all stripes: politics, current events; popular culture, (especially anything that deals with subcultures – the more minute the better), unconventional business, popular science, adventure, psychology, and more. She also represents practical nonfiction in the areas of cooking, design, craft, gardening, travel and the outdoors, humor, health, and parenting.

Christina Berke is a Chilean-American writer and educator with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. She’s been supported by Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Hedgebrook, and Storyknife. Her work is in Edible, Pithead Chapel, Teen Vogue and elsewhere.

Grace Bialecki is a writer, spoken word poet, and workshop facilitator. She has performed at KGB Bar and as the featured poet at Paris Lit Up, and her work has appeared in various publications including Catapult and Epiphany Magazine. Bialecki is the co-founder of the storytelling series Thirst, and the author of the novel Purple Gold (ANTIBOOKCLUB). 

For more information check out Grace's website (www.graciebialecki.com) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/graciebialecki).

Describe your teaching style.

I feel myself as a facilitator more than a teacher. Although I'll be discussing my practice, I'll also be engaging with the students and asking about their process. My goal is to empower attendees to try new techniques they can then adapt to their own needs.

Liza Birnbaum's writing has appeared in Web Conjunctions, jubilat, Tammy, Open Letters Monthly, and other publications. She holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and teaches at Hugo House, Cornish College of the Arts, and the University of Washington's Robinson Center. She's been awarded residencies from Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts and Agriculture and Fishtrap. For more of Liza go to lizabirnbaum.com

Megan Boatright is a writer and editor from rural Florida, now living in Seattle, WA. She has an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago, where she was a writing instructor before transitioning into TTRPG development and editing.

Bella Bravo is a writer new to Seattle. They earned an MFA in fiction from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2022. Their stories and essays have appeared in NY Tyrant, Spoil, and Commune. For more information go to bellabravo.com and follow on Instagram @bellabravo.