Teachers

Monika Sengul-Jones (she/her), PhD, is an independent writer and scholar based in Seattle, WA, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. She has a doctorate in Communication and Science & Technology Studies and an MA in Gender Studies. She has taught at University of Washington, UC San Diego, and Central European University; she was the inaugural co-managing editor of Catalyst, a feminist technoscience journal. Her research and original reporting on technologies, civic media, and intersectional feminism have been supported by Art+Feminism, European Journalism Centre, OCLC, Knight Foundation, WikiCred, and Wikimedia Foundation. She is at work on a debut novel that takes on the geographies of pollution and inheritance of trauma. As an instructor, she encourages students to take risks by listening, following ideas, and naming the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Natalie Serianni is a Seattle-based writer and instructor with work at HuffPost, Insider, Motherwell, MSN/SheKnows, The Manifest-Station, Seattle's ParentMap, Today's Parent, and MuthaMagazine, among others. Her essay, "Subtle Shifts," was included in the 2021 anthology, "The Pandemic Midlife Crisis: Gen X Women on the Brink." She writes about grief and parenting (sometimes together), and has taught college writing for over twenty years. Connect with her on instagram @natserianni or at natalieserianni.com. 

Emily Sernaker is a writer and human-rights professional based in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared in the Sun, New York Times, Ms. Magazine, McSweeney’s, Los Angeles Review of Books, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Rumpus, New Ohio Review and more. Over the last few years she has teamed up with Brooklyn Public Library to organize free, intergenerational, human-rights poetry programming, including Holding Space for Grief events, an Interfaith Poetry Reading, and Global Citizen poetry classes. She has worked as a staff member at the International Rescue Committee and New York Peace Institute and is currently an adjunct professor at the New School. Go to www.emilysernaker.com for more information or follow on social media @Emilysernaker.

Zain Shamoon is a professor of couple and family therapy at Antioch University Seattle. He hold his PhD in Human Development and Family Studies. He is the host and founder of the Narratives of Pain storytelling showcase.

Shama Shams is a Seattle writer, speaker, and nonprofit executive with an MA from Florida State University. Her memoir, She Called Me Throwaway (March 2024), details her journey from a challenging childhood to healing, and she is currently working on The Dreamers, a collection of immigrant stories about the American Dream. Shama also teaches at North Seattle College and Edmonds College while leading storytelling and nonprofit development workshops.

Shama Shams (Sanjukta) (is an author who lives in Dallas and Seattle. She plans to fully relocate to Seattle in May 2022 after her daughter graduates from High School. She holds a Master’s in Religion with an emphasis on Islam from Florida State University. Excerpts of her memoir were published in Palooka, A Journal of Underdog Excellence; Transformation, A Journal of Literature, Ideas & the Arts; Fiction Fix; and Mandala Literary Journal. She was a finalist for Black Warrior Review and her book proposal, as well as four of her essays, were selected by Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference hosted by University of North Texas. In front of a live sold-out audience at the Dallas Museum of Arts and the AT&T Performing Arts Center, she read excerpts from her memoir which can be found on the YouTube channel titled: Oral Fixation (An Obsession with True Life Tales)’s Lost in Translation, Elephant in the Room, and Old School. In addition, she read excerpts from her memoir at Truth in Comedy, a show featuring nonfiction writers. Shama works as the Director of Philanthropy and Marketing for Real Escape from the Sex Trade (REST), a Seattle-based nonprofit serving victims and survivors of sex trade and sex trafficking. During her spare time, she loves to write, paint, hike, and travel.

Radhika Sharma is the author of Parikrama: A Collection of Short Stories and Mangoes for Monkeys: A Novel. Radhika received her MFA from the San Francisco State University. Her byline has appeared in several newspapers and magazines including The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Jose Mercury News, India Currents, Tri City Voice, and others. She is currently at work on a novel and a collection of essays.

Nisi Shawl (they/them) is the multiple award-winning author and editor of over a dozen books of speculative fiction and related nonfiction, including the Nebula Award finalist novel Everfair; the standard text on inclusive representation, Writing the Other; and the first two volumes of the New Suns anthology series. Their most recent publication is the middle grade historical fantasy novel Speculation, which Lee & Low published in January 2023. They’ve taught and spoken at Duke University, Spelman College, Stanford University, Sarah Lawrence College, and many other institutions. Once upon a time, they conducted a filmed, onstage interview with Octavia E. Butler.

Michael Shilling is the author of Rock Bottom, a novel published by Little, Brown. The musical adaptation of the book was staged in 2014 by the Landless Theater Company. His stories have appeared in The Sun, Fugue, and Other Voices. He has taught at Seattle University, University of Puget Sound, and Cornish College of the Arts.

Gina Siciliano is an artist, writer, historian, and bookseller living in Seattle, WA. Her award-winning graphic novel I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi was published by Fantagraphics in 2019.

Cedar Sigo was raised on the Suquamish Reservation in the Pacific Northwest and studied at The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute. He is the author of eight books and pamphlets of poetry, including All This Time (Wave Books, 2021), Stranger in Town (City Lights, 2010), Expensive Magic (House Press, 2008), two editions of Selected Writings (Ugly Duckling Press, 2003 and 2005) and most recently the Bagley Wright Lecture Series book Guard the Mysteries (Wave Books, 2021). He has taught workshops at St. Mary’s College, Naropa University and University Press Books. He is currently a mentor in the low residency MFA program at The Institute of American Indian Arts. He lives in Lofall, Washington.