Writers-in-Residence 2009-2010

Turiya Autry is a writer, performance artist, educator and event organizer. Work with her duo Good Sista/Bad Sista was included in The Quotable Rebel and Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution. Whether working with a classroom or a crowd of over twenty thousand, she encourages self-expression and awareness through written and spoken word.

Lorraine Bahr is an award-winning actress, playwright and director. She teaches acting and playwriting at Portland State University, in Washington and Oregon high schools, and at the Well Arts Institute. She is a co-founder of the Sowelu Ensemble Theater in Portland. Her produced plays include A Life Alone, Bottomless, Count Time, Charlie Stone, and Live Nude Fear.

Carmen Bernier-Grand is a Puerto Rico native who has lived in Portland for over 30 years. She teaches for Community of Writers and the Whidbey Island MFA program. Her books for children and young adults have been Oregon Book Awards finalists. César: ¡Sí, Se Puede! Yes, We Can! and Frida: ¡Viva la Vida! Long Live Life! won Pura Belpré awards. Carmen received the 2008 Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award for her contributions to literature for children and young adults.

Ryan Blacketter earned his MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He has taught at Lane Community College, University of Oregon, Boise State University, Log Cabin Literary Center and the University of Iowa. His writing has been published in the Crab Orchard Review, Quick Fiction, Other Voices and Alaska Quartlerly Review. Ryan is the recipient of grants from the Idaho Humanities Council and the Oregon Regional Arts and Culture Council.

Carson Cistulli earned his MFA in poetry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he created and led two experimental writing workshops, one on sports writing and the other titled “Let’s Misbehave,” which focused on literature’s greatest smart alecks. A finalist for both the Fence Modern Poets Series Book Contest and the Jack Spicer First Book Award, his full-length book of poems, Some Common Weaknesses Illustrated, was published in 2007.

Chris Cottrell is a poet whose work has appeared in such publications as the Clackamas Literary Review, Portland Review, and Willamette Week. His experience includes University Studies Mentor at Portland State University and working with youth in Upward Bound. His position represents a partnership between Literary Arts and the MFA Program at Portland State University.

Nicole Georges is an author, illustrator and comic book artist. Her teaching experience includes the Independent Publishing Resource Center, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls and Young Audiences. Her fine illustration work has appeared in Yeti, Tin House, Hobart and Bitch. She is currently working on a graphic novel for Beacon Press about the time she called The Doctor Laura Show.

Amanda Gersh earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia University. Her literary fiction and nonfiction has appeared in Mississippi Review, Tin House, SEED and The Believer. Her travel writing has appeared in Sunset and American Way. She is the author of ten young adult novels and has been a resident of The Corporation of Yaddo and The MacDowell Colony.

Justin Hocking is the executive director of Portland’s Independent Publishing Resource Center. He is the author of The World’s Best Skatepark and several articles in Thrasher Magazine. He has worked as an editor and writer for Citadel Underground Press, Rosen Publishing and Soft Skull Press and has taught writing at Colorado State University, 826NYC and the Turning Point Center for Youth. Justin earned an MFA in Creative Writing/Literature at Colorado State University. His story “Burnside Fever” was recently published in Portland Noir.

Hunt Holman is a playwright. His play Willow Jade will be produced in January 2010 by Portland Playhouse at the Fertile Ground Festival in Portland, OR. The play received a staged reading in the JAW Festival at Portland Center Stage in July 2008. Other plays include Spanish Girl, Gun Club, The Kidney, The Dawn Patrol, and The First Time I Slept with Rosemary. He earned an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

John Isaacson is a cartoonist and poet whose illustrations, poetry, comics and journalism have appeared in The East Bay Express, Terrain, The Santa Barbara Independent, and the anthologies Pet Noir, Not My Small Diary and Sidewalk Bump. His first graphic novel, Do It Yourself Screen-Printing, was published in 2007.

Karen Karbo is the author of novels Trespassers Welcome Here, The Diamond Lane and Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me, all of which were recognized by the New York Times as Notable Books. Her nonfiction titles include The Stuff of Life and How to Hepburn. She is also the author of the Minerva Clark mystery series for children. Additional publications include The New York Times, Esquire and Vogue.

Jessica Lamb received her master’s degree in Italian literature from Stanford University. A poet and essayist, her work has appeared in Poetry, Willow Springs, Carolina Quarterly, Fireweed, Green Mountains Review, Hubbub, Open Spaces and The Southern Review. Her first collection of poems, Last Apples of Late Empires, was published in 2009.

Amy Minato is author of The Wider Lens published in 2004 and Siesta Lane, published in 2009. Her poetry has appeared in Wilderness Magazine, Poetry East, Windfall, Cimarron Review and The Oregonian Poetry Corner and has been recognized with a 2003 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship. She teaches poetry writing at Washington State University, through Literary Arts and in other venues.

Renee Mitchell is a multi-media artist, playwright, poet and journalist. She has taught news writing at Washington State and Portland State University. While a metro columnist for The Oregonian, she was awarded the Ida B. Wells Bravery in Journalism Award and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

John Morrison earned his MFA from the University of Alabama and received the 2003 C. Hamilton Bailey Poetry Fellowship from Literary Arts. His book Heaven of the Moment won the Rhea & Seymour Gorsline Poetry Competition and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award in poetry. His poems have appeared in the Cimarron Review, Poetry East, Southern Poetry Review, and Caffeine Destiny.

Laura Moulton earned an MFA from Eastern Washington University. She has taught writing workshops in high schools, universities and a homeless shelter for teens. She is adjunct professor at Mt. Hood Community College and teaches workshops at the women’s prison in Wilsonville. Her work has been featured in Hip Mama, Nervy Girl, Portland Tribune, and Brain, Child. Her public art project “Object Permanence” was commissioned by Portland State University in 2009.

Alexis Nelson earned her MFA at Portland State University. She has taught English as a second language in public high schools in France and is an adjunct writing professor at Portland State University. Her personal essays have appeared in Spectrum, The Iowa Review and Oregon Humanities. Her book reviews and articles have also been published in The Oregonian and Portland Monthly. She was awarded the Iowa Review Award in 2008.

Emma Oliver is from Guadalajara, Mexico. In addition to her work with Literary Arts, she taught creative writing in The Miracle Theatre’s youth program, Pluma Nueva. She recently completed her first novel, “A House in Los Potreros” and is currently seeking a publisher while working on her second novel, “The Mexican Gang of Four.”

Mark Pomeroy has received an Oregon Literary Fellowship for fiction, a residency at Caldera and his poetry and essays have appeared in Open Spaces, The Oregonian, and Portland. A former classroom teacher, he holds an MA in English education from Teachers College, Columbia University and lives in northeast Portland with his wife, a public school teacher, and his young son, a rambunctious otter of a child.

Joanna Rose is a poet, short-story writer and novelist. Her first novel, Little Miss Strange, won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Fiction Prize and was a finalist for an Oregon Book Award. She is a regular reviewer for The Oregonian. Other publications include ZYZZYVA, Story Magazine, Artisan Journal and Northern Lights.

Natalie Serber received her MFA from Warren Wilson in 2005. Her work has appeared in The Bellingham Review, Fourth Genre, Gulf Coast and in the collections Knowing Pains and Airfare: Stories, Poems and Essays on Flight. Her work has been short-listed for inclusion in the Best American Stories series. Awards include the Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction, John Steinbeck Award for Fiction and a finalist mention for the Annie Dillard Creative Nonfiction Award.

Source of the Orinoco River by Remedio Varos
JoNelle Toriseva received a master’s degree in creative writing from Mills College and has received a Breadloaf Writers’ Conference scholarship. She is the author of Rodeo Day and Becoming Ballet. Her work has appeared in Descant, Soundings East, The Fiddlehead, PRISM International, Fulcrum and 14 Hills. She has taught at Mills College, Universidad de Valle in Guatemala City, California Poets in the Schools and the San Francisco Arts Commission’s WriterCorps.

Cindy Williams Gutiérrez collaborates with artists in theater, music and visual art. Her poems and reviews have been published in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Calyx, Crab Orchard Review, Open Spaces, Rain Taxi, and ZYZZYVA. Her plays have been produced by the Miracle Theatre Group and Insight Out Theatre Collective. Cindy earned an MFA from the University of Southern Maine Stonecoast Program. She is President of the Board of Directors of the Miracle Theatre Group and teaches through Community of Writers and the Attic.

Matthew B. Zrebski is a playwright. His plays include the planet ME, Neck, A Place Called Timothy, Darkstep and Dawning, Parts, After the Zipper, The Vespiary, and Ablaze. In addition to his work with Literary Arts, Matt teaches playwriting for Portland Center Stage through the Visions and Voices program and the Greenhouse School of Theater.

Back to Writers in the Schools