Teachers

Rachel Griffin writes young adult novels inspired by the magic of the world around her. She is the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches and the forthcoming Wild is the Witch, publishing August 2, 2022 with Sourcebooks Fire.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Rachel has a deep love of nature, from the mountains to the ocean and all the towering evergreens in between. She adores moody skies and thunderstorms, and hopes more vampires settle down in her beloved state of Washington.

On her path to writing novels, Rachel graduated from Seattle University with a Bachelor of Science in diagnostic ultrasound. She worked in healthcare for five years and taught ultrasound at her alma mater before making the switch to a small startup. She has been mentoring in Pitch Wars since 2017 and now writes full-time from her home in the Seattle area.

When she isn’t writing, you can find her wandering the PNW, reading by the fire, or drinking copious amounts of coffee and tea. She lives with her husband, small dog, and growing collection of houseplants.

Lili Gu is a poet and filmmaker passionate about exploring justice, liberation, and the human condition through storytelling. She studied poetry while in engineering school at Columbia University and went on to receive her MFA in Film Production and Directing from UCLA. Her work has received numerous accolades, screening internationally and on television networks such as PBS. This will be Lili’s return to poetry. Her writing works to uncover language away from the white gaze, speaking truth to power on themes of Chinese American assimilation, queerness, and intergenerational strength. She makes art as an act of love—toward visions of an imagined future in which all humans can not just survive, but thrive.

Alex Guy is a Seattle-based violinist, violist and singer, and the creator and founder of Led to Sea, an unusual and magnetic solo project. Guy fuses classical, pop and experimental music. Her live show as a string player and vocalist has captivated audiences all over the U.S. and Europe, and draws comparisons to St. Vincent and Andrew Byrd. She has opened for and shared the stage with a host of renowned artists, including Laura Veirs, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Mirah, Sera Cahoone and Jherek Bischoff. She has also contributed to albums from Amanda Palmer, Xiu Xiu, Laura Veirs, Mirah and Parenthetical Girls. 

Alex Guy is a Seattle-based violinist, violist and singer, and the creator and founder of Led to Sea, an unusual and magnetic solo project. Guy fuses classical, pop and experimental music. Her live show as a string player and vocalist has captivated audiences all over the U.S. and Europe, and draws comparisons to St. Vincent and Andrew Byrd. She has opened for and shared the stage with a host of renowned artists, including Laura Veirs, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Mirah, Sera Cahoone and Jherek Bischoff. She has also contributed to albums from Amanda Palmer, Xiu Xiu, Laura Veirs, Mirah and Parenthetical Girls. 

Seattle author Alle C. Hall's debut novel As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back won five prizes prior to publication, including The National League of American Pen Women’s Mary Kennedy Eastham Prize. Hall’s short work appears in journals including Dale Peck’s Evergreen Review,Tupelo Quarterly,New World Writing,CreativeNonfiction, and Another Chicago. She has a lively passion for bringing writers to an easy understanding of their writing and publishing goals.

Becca Rose Hall directs Frog Hollow School, a children's writing program. She is a Bread Loaf and Sewanee alum, and her work has received support from the Community of Writers, ArtsOmi, Writers' Lighthouse, and Zvona i Nari. Her fiction, essays, and poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Orion, Pacifica Literary Review, Third Coast, About Place, Mutha Magazine, Drunk Monkeys, and Muleskinner. She is working on a novel set in Olympia in the aftermath of Kurt Cobain's death. She lives in Seattle with her daughter and their dog.

Seattle author Alle C. Hall's debut novel As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back has been honored sixteen times, most recently: finalist for The Nancy Pearl Book Award for Literary Fiction. Hall’s short work appears in journals including Dale Peck’s Evergreen Review,Tupelo Quarterly,New World Writing,CreativeNonfiction, and Another Chicago. She has a lively passion for bringing writers to an easy understanding of their writing and publishing goals.

Courtenay Hameister is the former host of Live Wire and the author of Okay Fine Whatever: The Year I Went From Being Afraid of Everything to Only Being Afraid of Most Things—Amazon Bestseller and Thurber Prize for American Humor finalist.

Stephanie Barbé Hammer is a seven-time Pushcart Prize nominee in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. She is the author of two novels, two poetry collections, a novelette, and a how to write Magical Realism manual. Her new poetry collection City Slicker is out with Bamboo Dart Press. Stephanie currently lives on Whidbey Island where she keeps on trying to walk to coffee.

Jessica Han is a writer, investment manager and mountaineer in Seattle.

Shelby Handler is a writer, translator, and organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace. Recent work has appeared in and or is forthcoming in Poetry, The Iowa Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Redivider, Poetry Northwest, The Journal, Black Warrior Review Online, Four Way Review, among others. 

Julia Hands is a writer and editor out of Seattle. She has previously served on the board of Lit Crawl: Seattle and is the current Editor-in-Chief at Crab Creek Review. Her poems and stories have appeared in various publications, including Cream City Review, Evansville Review, The Shore, Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, among others.

Constance Hansen is the Assistant Managing Editor at Poetry Northwest. Her poetry has recently appeared in Harvard Review Online, EcoTheo Review, and Moist Poetry Journal. She lives in Seattle, where she writes about climate for the weather service, Currently. You may learn more at www.constancehansen.com.