Teachers

Architect, technologist and writer Simin Paksirat lived in Iran most of her life, and came to the US several years ago. She has lived in Chicago and Seattle, and is deeply involved in supporting the struggle in Iran today.

Marc J Palm facilitates the anthology DUNE mini comics that happens monthly at Hugo House. A freelance illustrator for magazines like MAD, Metrograph, and Public Display.Art, Marc was the head organizer and publisher of the INTRUDER comics newspaper during its run from 2012-2016. As a self-publisher, he made his first comic book in 1993, and most recently released The Fang vol. 3 in early summer 2025.

Claudia Alexandra Paras is a mixed-race writer, born and raised in the Philippines who immigrated to the U.S. when she was 18. Writing has been her most patient and challenging life-long friend. She loves trees, bike rides, chocolate, and thinking slowly.

Morgan Parker’s visceral and provocative poetry has been heralded as “a riveting testimony to everyday blackness.” Audacious and essential, her work electrifies audiences and has been awarded with a National Endowment for the Arts Literary Fellowship. “Ignore Ms. Parker at your peril,” acclaimed poet Patricia Smith warns, and we second the sentiment. Grappling with the complications and considerations of contemporary black womanhood, pop culture, and personal history, Morgan’s poetry collections include There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé, Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night, and her latest, Magical Negro, for which she was the recipient of a 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award. She is also the author of the young adult novel, Who Put This Song On?, which is loosely based on Morgan’s own teenage life and diaries. Morgan is the creator and host of the live talk show Reparations, Live! at the Ace Hotel and co-curates the Poets with Attitude (PWA) reading series. Her work has been awarded with a Pushcart Prize and a fellowship from Cave Canem. Morgan lives in Los Angeles with her dog Shirley and is currently at work on her forthcoming book of nonfiction.

Jaime Parker Stickle is an actor, writer, and podcast host. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside low residency program. She is the creator of the hilarious and poignant podcast, Make That Paper featured in VoyageLA magazine. She is the creator and host of the new storytelling series “Okay, You Guys…” in Los Angeles. Her published work can be seen in The Coachella Review and the Adelaide Literary Anthology, amongst other places. She is currently the fiction and nonfiction editor for the literary magazine – GXRL. She is the recipient of a Virginia G. Piper Desert Nights Rising Stars Fellowship.

Jaime is currently finishing work on her first novel and is represented by Dara Hyde at the Hill Nadell Literary Agency.

Alli is a prose writer with a Masters in Creative Writing from University of Glasgow. Her work is featured in Crab Fat Magazine, The Bookends Review, The Daily Drunk Mag, and others. Alli was accepted to the Kenyon Review Writer’s Workshop Summer 2021. As well as writing, she spends her time making wheel-thrown pottery, reading, and drinking whisky—her favorite is Jura 10 year. She lives in Seattle with her spouse and two dogs.

Emily Parzybok is a writer, political consultant and teacher from Seattle. She serves as the Executive Director of Balance Our Tax Code advocating for progressive solutions to balance the tax code at the state legislature and on the ballot. She is a writer and an MFA candidate at New York University’s low residency program. Her work has been published in Poetry Northwest, The Syndrome Mag and Points in Case. She has work forthcoming in the Uncertain Girls, Uncertain Times anthology, a collection of inspiration and encouragement for young women. Above all else, she is a dedicated reader who can often be found in bed with her three cats, a cup of breakfast tea and a book.

Paxton is an artist, writer and game designer who has worked at the technical intersection of story and play both professionally and independently. Their interactive audio dramas have been published on the Amazon Echo, and their choice-based narratives have won awards through the Interactive Fiction Competition. Paxton is a Narrative Technical Designer for Bungie, previously for Destiny 2 and currently for the upcoming game, Marathon. They are also the founder of Cryptic Conservatory, a cooperative studio focused on helping new narrative designers find their voice.

Jordynn Paz is from the Apsaalooke (Crow) Nation of southeast Montana. Growing up on the reservation, she regularly attended powwows and other cultural/ceremonial events, often with a book in hand. Jordynn received her Bachelor of Arts in journalism and Native American Studies from the University of Montana. As a journalist she covered Indigenous issues including the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement, blood quantum, and the complexities of Indigenous identity.

Jordynn was a production assistant for the docuseries Murder in Big Horn which covered MMIW cases within her home community. Jordynn plans to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing in the future. Her focus on fiction and narrative nonfiction allows her to tell stories of her community in an accessible way. Growing up an avid reader she rarely saw her people in modern fiction or classic literature. She hopes to contribute to the amazing work of Indigenous writers of today. 

Michelle Peñaloza is the author of Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire, winner of the 2018 Hillary Gravendyk National Poetry Prize (Inlandia Books, 2019). She is also the author of two chapbooks, landscape/heartbreak (Two Sylvias, 2015), and Last Night I Dreamt of Volcanoes (Organic Weapon Arts, 2015). The recipient of fellowships and awards from the University of Oregon and Kundiman, Michelle has also received support from Lemon Tree House, Caldera, 4Culture, Literary Arts, VONA/Voices, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, among others. The proud daughter of Filipino immigrants, Michelle was born in the suburbs of Detroit, MI and raised in Nashville, TN. She now lives in rural Northern California.

Francesca Penchant (she/her) is a designer, writer, and publisher who teaches editing at the University of Washington. She has an MFA with a concentration in book arts and creates books and ephemera for Rachilde & Co., an independent micropress. Francesca lives with her husband in Seattle.

Saleem Hue Penny (him/friend) is a Black, disabled poet expanding the pastoral tradition of the Southern Black Belt using a "rural hip-hop blues" aesthetic. Drum loops, field sounds, gouache, and birch bark commonly punctuate his poetry; these hybrid audio/mixed media pieces are released under the moniker h.u.e (hope – uplifts – everything).

Saleem is the 2021 Poetry Coalition Fellow at Zoeglossia, an Assistant Poetry Editor at Bellevue Literary Review, a member of Obsidian’s Inaugural “O|Sessions Black Listening” 2022 cohort, and a proud Cave Canem Fellow. Across poetic mediums, he explores how young people of color traverse wild spaces and define freedom on their own terms.

A mutual aid advocate and disability justice activist, he practices cultivating "Ecosystems of Care" centering

"Melanistic Wonderment". Saleem regularly collaborates on community engagement activities, particularly for teen parent-headed families, long-term pediatric patients, and families affected by incarceration.

He is compiling his first full-length poetry collection and pursuing archival research for ‘The Happy Land Liniment’ Project: an oral history, digital field guide, and chapbook-length lyric essay set in Reconstruction-era “Affrilachia”.