Teachers

Denise Duhamel’s most recent book of poetry is Second Story (Pittsburgh, 2021). Her other titles from the U of Pittsburgh Press include Scald (2017); Blowout (2013, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award); Ka-Ching (2009); Two and Two (2005); and Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems (2001). Earlier titles include The Star-Spangled Banner (winner of the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry from Southern Illinois U Press, 1999); and the ever-popular and best-selling Kinky(Orchises Press, 1997). She is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her poetry has been widely anthologized and has appeared in several of The Best American Poetry annuals; she was guest editor for the 2013 edition. Originally from Rhode Island, Duhamel teaches in the MFA program at Florida International University in Miami.

https://upittpress.org/books/9780822966531/

Zoser is a singer/songwriter and music bender whose music has no boundaries.  With a soulful voice, thoughtful lyrics, and a guitar, his music shifts seamlessly between pop, hip-hop, R&B, and folk.  The writing is personal, the music idiosyncratic, all to capture the feelings and mood of each song. With influences ranging from Ed Sheeran to Childish Gambino, a simple six-string, and mic, Zoser transforms into a “beat box,” lending percussive bass to funky and melodious rhymes.  He made his recording debut in 2019 with the EP release “Genesis” followed by the EP “Evolve” in 2020,  independently recorded and released.  Zoser is currently the Co-Chair of the Totem Star Leadership Collective, a non-profit music and mentorship program for underserved youths.

As an emerging Seattle artist, Zoser began playing guitar when he was just 10-years-old. By the age of 12, he began penning his own lyrics and performing to local audiences in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia. 2 years later, as a mentee of the 100 Black Men of America, he represented the August chapter and performed at the National Convention. Zoser remained a fixture on the local musical scene until relocating to Seattle where he graduated from West Seattle High School. 

While in high school, Zoser was a gold medalist in the Seattle King County NAACP ACTSO competition where he went on to represent the branch at the National convention and was later inducted into the Washington Young Laureates program. Shortly after adjusting to the Seattle music scene, he went on to be a semi-finalist for” SoundOff! 2019”, PNW local music competition, and selected to participate in the More Music at The Moore, a Musician in Residency and Young Emerging Artists program.

By culling and synthesizing seemingly disparate musical forms and influences, Zoser has crafted a sound that is wholly and undeniably his own. The result is something spectacular to behold: a voice that conveys a world-weary ache and a bright optimism, and a sense of musicality that is both rhythmic and infectiously melodic. He is a singer, a storyteller and something of a revelation – not necessarily a soul singer but something rarer and more precious – a singer with soul.

Andrea Dunlop is an author and consultant based out of Seattle, WA with over a decade of experience in book publishing.

She began her career as an in-house publicist for Doubleday (Random House) where she worked with bestselling authors such as Tina Brown, Jonathan Lethem, Linda Fairstein, and many others.

After moving back to Seattle in 2009, she took over as publicity manager for Kim Ricketts Book Events promoting a wide range of cookbook and literary events with authors such as Laurie David, Rene Redzepi, and Steven Johnson. Next, she spent five years with an editorial and book production firm as their executive director of social media and marketing, working with both traditionally and self-published clients and spearheading the company’s marketing efforts.

Andrea is the author of three novels including Losing the Light (February 2016), She Regrets Nothing (February 2018), and the forthcoming We Came Here to Forget (July 2019) all from Atria/Simon&Schuster. Her books have been featured in Town & Country, Bustle, InStyle, US Weekly, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere. In addition to her writing and social media work, Andrea is an accomplished speaker and has presented at book and publishing conferences nationwide including The San Francisco Writers Conference, The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Conference, The Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference, and many others.

She lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and daughter.Andrea is the author of three novels including Losing the Light (February 2016), She Regrets Nothing (February 2018), and the forthcoming We Came Here to Forget (July 2019) all from Atria/Simon&Schuster. Her books have been featured in Town & Country, Bustle, InStyle, US Weekly, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere. In addition to her writing and social media work, Andrea is an accomplished speaker and has presented at book and publishing conferences nationwide including The San Francisco Writers Conference, The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Conference, The Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference, and many others.

She lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and daughter.

Cassidy Dyce is a writer currently living in Seattle, Washington. After graduating from Christopher Newport University with a BA degree in English, she worked as the writer's assistant for Kwame Alexander, Author, and Recipient of the Newbery Medal. Her work is featured in NPR's Morning Edition and ABC's miniseries, WordPlay. In her first year of moving to Seattle, Cassidy was accepted into the Hugo House Fellowship Program, where she completed the first draft of her WIP Caricatures. Recently, she joined Seattle Arts and Lecture's Writers-in-Schools (WITS) residency, where she has the privilege to venture into Public Schools and partner with Teachers to reintroduce the love of literature and creative writing to students. Her graphic novel series, Brainstormers, Co-authored with Kwame Alexander, will hit shelves in 2025.

Howie Echo-Hawk is a Queer, nonbinary “comedian” and all around Native person. All writing is FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. insta/twitter: @howieechohawk.

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Spoken Word Poet/ Emcee and Teaching Artist Rajnii Eddins has been engaging diverse community audiences for over 27 years. He was the youngest member of the Afrikan American Writers Alliance at age 11 and has been actively sharing with youth and community in Vermont since 2010. His latest work Their Names Are Mine aims to confront white supremacy while emphasizing the need to affirm our mutual humanity.

Suzanne Edison, MA, MFA is a poet, educator and former therapist. She has led workshops for parents and medical professionals on the effects of chronic illness on families at Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH), NIH, and at national conferences for the Cure JM Foundation. She created a writing group for parents of kids with chronic illness at SCH, and the workshop “Teens Writing from the Heart of Illness & Healing” at Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Her recent chapbook, The Body Lives Its Undoing, was published in 2018 by The Benaroya Research Institute. It is an exploration in poetry and visual art about autoimmune diseases based on interviews with researchers, doctors, patients and caregivers.

Suzanne is the recipient of grants from Artist Trust, 4Culture of King County, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and will be a Hedgebrook fellow in Fall of 2019.

Some of Suzanne’s work can be found in her first chapbook, The Moth Eaten World, and in the following journals and anthologies: Michigan Quarterly Review; Naugatuck River Review; JAMA; CMAJ; The Healing Art of Writing, Vol. I; The Examined Life Journal; Face to Face: Women Writers on Faith, Mysticism and Awakening. Her work can be read online in various other journals and on her website. www.seedison.com

Writers I Return To: Louise Gluck, Wislawa Szymborska, Rachel Zucker, Seamus Heaney, Galway Kinnell

Favorite Writing Advice: Read, write, read, write

Jennifer Egan is the author of six previous books of fiction: Manhattan Beach, winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction; A Visit from the Goon Squad, which won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; The Keep; the story collection Emerald City; Look at Me, a National Book Award Finalist; and The Invisible Circus. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Granta, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. Her website is JenniferEgan.com.

Amanda Eke is a Nigerian American Broadcast Journalist/Anchor, Artist, Spoken Word Poet, Film-Maker, and Educator. She has won numerous awards including a Fulbright Fellowship and a UN (United Nations) Award for her work. Her touring workshop series, "The Poet Speaks" is an engaging experience into the culture of Spoken Word, rhyme, and tradition, held for all ages. Amanda has performed, taught and toured as a Spoken Word Poet and Educator globally in countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Nepal, and the USA, just to name a few. Amanda is also the host and creator of the popular podcast show of the same name, The Poet Speaks Podcast, named as one of Strategic Media Inc's "Top 5 Podcasts by Black Creators”, which has her speaking to Spoken Word Artists and Poet Laureates from all over the world.

Omar El Akkad is an award-winning journalist and author whose debut novel, American War, was listed as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, NPR, Esquire, and was selected by the BBC as one of a hundred novels that changed our world. His second novel, What Strange Paradise, won the Giller Prize and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award.

Mary Ellen's poems have been published in over 100 journals and anthologies. Her poems have received three Pushcart nominations and her chapbook, Postcards from the Lilac City, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020. After earning both her BA and MSPA at the University of Washington, she spent four decades serving students with communication disabilities in Federal Way and Seattle public schools as a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Her reviews of poetry collections appear widely.

Allison Ellis’ writing has been published in The New York Times, The Ploughshares blog, Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies, Amazon Original Stories, SELF, Marie Claire, Redbook, and The Washington Post. In 2016, her essay, “Hold On” won the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Award in the short nonfiction category, and her forthcoming memoir, Ready About is the 2021 recipient of the First Pages Prize/Sandra Carpenter Prize for Creative Nonfiction. She holds an MFA from Bennington Writing Seminars (2021) and a BA from Smith College in American Studies. Read more of her work at allisonellis.com

DEREK ENGEN is a first-year MFA student at UW-Seattle. He is an amateur poet and an amateurer fly fisher. His poetry manuscript, Thus We Bow, was a finalist for the 2022 Emelia Ferrara Honors Thesis Award at Georgetown University. He was published in Young Writers of America in 2011, although it was likely not his best work. 

Alayna Erhart is a biracial Chinese American artist based in Seattle, Washington. Her mediums of filmmaking, photography, music, and writing are guided by her conviction to celebrate the bold, brave, and tender truths that make us human. She is currently developing the manuscript for her memoir.