Teachers

Marissa Flaxbart is a writer, filmmaker, and podcaster based in Los Angeles. She holds a BA in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of Chicago and an MFA in Screenwriting from Chapman University. Early in her professional life, she produced and directed a feature-length documentary, SHOW/CHOIR, while leading a team of technology lecturers at one of the first flagship Apple stores. Since relocating to Los Angeles, she has worked as a writer and developer for film and television. She is the host of the culture podcast Sweet Valley Diaries and a writer/producer for Twenty Thousand Hertz. Her first narrative feature will be released in 2021.

Miz Portiontè Floes was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. As a youth residing in the urban richness of a “concrete jungle”, she was no stranger to poverty. Miz has always been fascinated with cultural history as well as literature. Despite Miz’s profound fondness for music, it was through poetry that Miz found her escape from the madness that surrounded her, as an at-risk youth in a large city. What began as escape soon transformed into passion. Miz’s first manuscript, I’m Still Growing Vol. 1, was self-published in 2005. Miz has delved even further into the world of poetic verse; authoring five additional poetic manuscripts, and three spoken word theater productions! Her artistry continues to evolve.

Originally from Buffalo, and currently living in Seattle, Stacy D. Flood’s work has been published nationally and performed on stages nationwide as well as in the Puget Sound Area. He has been an artist-in-residence at DISQUIET in Lisbon, as well as Millay Arts in New York, and he is the recipient of a Getty Fellowship to the Community of Writers. Published by Lanternfish Press, The Salt Fields is his first novella.

Lucia Flores-Wiseman is an up-and-coming singer/songwriter from Maple Valley, Washington, who blends Americana coffee house, indie, folk, and jazz vocals to create a sound that is distinctively her own. At 20 years old, Lucia has already sung with Brandi Carlile, sang on American Idol two seasons, performed at the Moore Theatre and Paramount stage! At her gigs, Lucia combines cover songs and original songs to entertain any kind of person! Outside of singing, Lucia is a current student at the University of Washington, studying Communication and Spanish.

Gail Folkins often writes about her deep roots in the American West. She is the author of two creative nonfiction books from Texas Tech University Press: a Pacific Northwest memoir titled Light in the Trees (2016), and Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit (2007), which was a popular culture finalist in ForeWord Review’s 2007 Book of the Year Awards. Folkins’ essay “A Palouse Horse” was a Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2010. Her essays and poetry have appeared in publications such as River Teeth Journal – Beautiful Things, North Dakota Quarterly, Wisconsin Life, Texas Highways, and Wildflower Magazine. She has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, St. Edward’s University (Austin), and Austin Community College. Teaching philosophy: My goal is to further understanding of craft while also encouraging expression of students’ unique voices. Students have praised my workshop format and student-centered approach. Students learn to not only share a narrative, but to also explore their experiences and discoveries. I encourage students to read as writers, meaning focusing on elements of craft in addition to literary themes. Writers I return to: Edward Abbey, Julia Alvarez, Margaret Atwood, Kim Barnes, Rick Bass, Dennis Covington, Louise Erdrich, Ernest Hemingway, Pico Iyer, and Jhumpa Lahiri. Favorite writing advice: Find the extraordinary in the everyday.

Rasheena Fountain is an essayist and poet from Chicago's west side communities Austin and K-Town. She has been published in Hobart, Crazyhorse, Penumbra Online, Jelly Bucket, The Roadrunner Review, and more. She currently studies and teaches at the University of Washington Seattle and is working on a multi-genre memoir about nature, environmental justice, decolonization, land, and Blackness.

Teré Fowler-Chapman (he/they) is a poet, cultural worker, and youth advocate whose work focuses on mental health and their experience as a black, transgendered man. He is a Marsha P. Johnson Fellow, National Arts Strategies’ Creative Community Fellow, and Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy Award nominee. His first full-length poetry book, "M O O N S H i N E," was released by R&R Press in October. You can find Teré’s work in the Huffington Post, the University of Arizona’s VOCA, TEDxTucson, Tucson Weekly, Arizona Public Media’s PBS & NPR, AutoStraddle, and more. Website: terethepoet.com | Photo Credit: Zach Oren.

Describe your teaching style.

Relaxed and approachable.

Gabriela Denise Frank is a Pacific Northwest writer, editor, and creative writing instructor. Her essays, interviews, and fiction, explore identity, feminism, aging, belonging, creative practice, and ancestors. Her work appears in True Story, HAD, Poetry Northwest, Pembroke, DIAGRAM, Hunger Mountain, Bayou, Baltimore Review, The Normal School, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her essay “BAD DATE” was named a Notable Essay of 2020 by Best American Essays. Gabriela’s work is supported by grants, fellowships, and residencies from 4Culture, Artist Trust, The Civita Institute, Centrum, Invoking the Pause, Jack Straw Cultural Center, Marble House, Mineral School, Vermont Studio Center, and Willapa Bay. In 2009, she enrolled in her first Hugo House class, which reignited her writing life. Off the page, her literary art installations and performances transform stories into multisensory experiences. Her writing is rooted in place and landscape, a result of her career in architecture and urban design in the western United States. An advocate for public arts and artists, she serves as an arts commissioner for the City of Burien, on the arts advisory committee of 4Culture, and as creative nonfiction editor for Crab Creek Review. For more information go to gabrieladenisefrank.com.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/civitaveritas/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CivitaVeritas

Describe your teaching style.

I center each class meeting on a theme matched with a constraint, a prompt, or a form. (Oftentimes, we'll do two or three writes per session.) As a prose writer of essays and creative nonfiction, I often draw poetry and poetic approaches into my classes because I believe the granular focus on language and form helps us craft stronger prose.

Melissa Freeman is a writer, lawyer, mindfulness teacher, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of The Container Community, a guided journaling community based in Seattle, Washington. She is known for her ability to facilitate grounding spaces for reflection and connection, her unique approach to mindful growth, and her warm, belly laugh.

Melissa founded The Container Community in 2020 as an antidote to the isolation of lockdown and to respond to the eternal need to find authentic and meaningful connection, both with ourselves and others. She had previously left her career in law after her own self-discovery journey left her wanting something more.

Over the past two years, Melissa has guided dozens of groups and teams through her unique self-reflection process. She’s a big believer in the wisdom and insight contained within each individual, and the power of growing together in community.

Melissa graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Davis with a B.A. in English, and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.