Chief Executive Officer
Founder

Rebecca founded Writopia Lab in April 2007, and currently directs the national organization. You can read the founding story in The Village Voice. She designed the organization’s mission and no-barriers sliding scale model, as well as its instructional approach, which has been embraced by thousands of children, teens, schools, and nonprofit partners across the country. In 2015, she established Writopia’s Training Institute that serves the youth development sector and the Department of Education and established The Positive Literacy Collaborative in partnership with Goddard Riverside in 2019 both with the support of the Pinkerton Foundation. Rebecca has led the organization’s growth and impact in NYC, while establishing and overseeing its labs in the DC Metro region, NY Metro North, Chicago, Los Angeles, and The Bay Area.

She writes, presents, and curates panels for schools, events, and conferences on a variety of topics including “The Case for Youth Voice, Creative Writing, and Joy-Based Writing Programs in Schools and After School,” "Building Safe Spaces: The Power of Creative Writing for Kids Who Have Experienced Trauma," "How to Inspire Joy and Creativity through Thought Competition,” “Partnering for Literacy Impact”, and "How to Love Writing for High School and College Admittance." She oversees communications and development at Writopia Lab.

In the founding five years of Writopia Lab, Rebecca won multiple teaching awards including the Scholastic Awards' 2012 Ovation Inspired Teacher Award for submitting the most outstanding senior portfolios on the national level and for "developing a method of working with students that inspires them to create original work that embodies their unique, personal voice.... Because of [her] tutelage... these students are now empowered to bring that voice into the broader world..." She has also won the 2008, 2009, and 2011 National Gold Apple Teacher Award for "submitting the most outstanding group of submissions on the national level" to the Scholastic Art & Writing event.

Rebecca oversees impact assessment at Writopia. She studied at Harvard Business School's Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations for organizational leaders in 2015 and continues to oversee Writopia’s impact assessment team's practices as a Youth Inc partner. She won a 2021 scholarship to attend Columbia University’s certificate program in business excellence for nonprofit leaders and is currently completing her Master's in Urban Education Policy at CUNY Graduate Center.

Rebecca also serves on Writopia Lab’s Board of Directors and is thrilled to have a team of accomplished board members from various social and business sectors, to help shape the future of writing education, and Writopia’s literary arts, youth development culture.

Chief Operations Officer

Jeremy Wallace-Segall is our Chief Operations officer, bringing together the efforts of our technology, human resources, media, finance, accounting, and facilities management teams to ensure that our program staff have the tools and human support to accomplish their goals. Jeremy joined Writopia Lab in 2009 with 15 years of nonprofit experience building databases and websites, leading design and layout teams for publications, and spearheading teams to create smooth passage through operational challenges. Jeremy is a foundational member of our fundraising events team, our sleepaway camp, and our compliance team. Since 2017, he has also run our Dungeons & Dragons program — and tons of epic adventures!

Jeremy has led the organization through vendor selection processes, web design and content charrettes, transitions between payroll providers, implementations of physical and electronic security systems, and leasing of spaces around the country.

Jeremy’s goal is always to provide tools and services that match not only the technical needs but also the working style of program teams while simultaneously ensuring that the tools and services bring each program team and the operations team closer together from the perspectives of data, workflow, and personal connection.

Jeremy has loved being part of Writopia Lab’s growth from it’s days in a synagogue basement to having 22 locations around the country and to now serving thousands online and he looks forward to being part of upcoming transitions in delivery, measurement, and growth of our services.

Executive Director

Yael has been a member of the Writopia Lab team since 2011. As the Co-Associate Executive Director, she oversees programs nationally and supports all instructors and workshops at Writopia’s Upper West Side lab. Yael’s favorite role at Writopia is that of instructor; she works with writers of all ages in all genres, including college essay. She has been recognized as an “Outstanding Educator” by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, and her students have been awarded National Medals, including American Voice Awards, Best in Grade Awards, and Silver Medals with Distinction in their senior portfolios.

Yael is also the lead Program Developer of Writopia Lab’s Language Play program, which runs enriching early-literacy engagement for the emerging writers. She has helped over 300 preschoolers become filmmakers as part of the Language Play Filmmaking program, and she regularly brings the program into UPre-Ks in homeless shelters and Title 1 schools in New York City. She also developed Writopia Lab’s service trip to Quito, Ecuador and has led the annual trip each year. She co-created and runs WriCampia, working closely with all instructors, counselors, and campers year-round.

Yael graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2022 with a Masters in Education Leadership, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship. At Harvard, she was a recipient of a Saul Zaentz Fellowship, awarded to emerging leaders in early childhood education. She holds a BA in English Literature from Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University. She lives in Manhattan but will always call Queens home!

Founder of Writopia's Essay Writing Program and Program Evaluation Adviser  

Danielle has been part of the Writopia Lab team since 2011. Danielle has been recognized by the Scholastic Awards "as an outstanding educator whose dedication, commitment, and guidance are represented by student work selected for national honors." She designed and launched Writopia’s Essay Writing program at Writopia in 2013 and Narrative Therapy workshops in 2019. She currently oversees program evaluation at Writopia, using Hello Insight to measure Writopia’s SEL impact in order to evaluate and respond to the needs of our young writers. She has published her research on Writopia Lab's impact in the academic journal, The Educational Forum.

Director of Teen Programs

Léna has been part of the Writopia world since 2009 and has been working with kids and teens in New York City's northern suburbs since 2010. In 2018, she launched our pre-college program for teens, Creative Portfolio, which became national in 2020.  From 2014 to present, Léna has been recognized by the Scholastic Awards "as an outstanding educator whose dedication, commitment, and guidance are represented by student work selected for national honors." Léna earned her BA from Barnard and her MA in Drama Therapy from NYU. Mentoring has long been the connective tissue in Léna's life, whether through her work with at-risk adolescents as a creative arts therapist; or through her own writing discipline, as fostered by her late grandmother, author Madeleine L'Engle, teaching her to transform the solitary nature of writing into a sacred sense of community, where her art and the art of others can flourish. Léna is the author of Edges (FSG), and several essays and books including co-authoring Becoming Madeleine, a Biography of the Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Her Granddaughters. 

Associate Director of Specialty Programs
Brooklyn Regional Manager (Interim) 

Elsa Bermúdez has loved leading creative writing, essay writing, comedy writing, and graphic noveling workshops at Writopia Lab since 2014! As Associate Director of Specialty Programs, she runs Writopia Lab’s scholarship program, Write to Recognition, and several off-site partnership programs. Elsa is a writer, artist, and educator. She earned her BA in Philosophy from Providence College and her MFA in Creative Writing in Fiction from The New School. Her short story, Agency, was published in H.O.W. Journal's Issue 11. She also studied improv and sketch comedy writing at UCB. Elsa has written, produced, and performed for comedy stages around New York City, including the Magnet Theater, the Pit, and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. As an artist, she has published comics and illustrations in issues 8 and 9 of Brown Sugar Lit. Elsa is also a Director for WriCampia and currently runs our Brooklyn Lab in Park Slope.

Associate Director of Education
Instructor

Matthew Jellison is over the moon to be serving as Senior Manager of Education at Writopia Lab. He began as a creative writing instructor in summer of 2017 and since has had the privilege of working on writing with some extraordinary kids. Matthew is playwright, actor, educator, and native New Yorker. He is the author of the play cycle, the giants. the giants, parts one and two was produced by Loft 227 in winter of 2016, and he played the character Elliot. the giants, part three has been presented at TOWN Stages, Barn Arts Collective, and Cloud City. His other plays include Who Killed Cupid? (the Claque, Signature Theater DC) and ability (workshop at The Kennedy Center). Matthew is the 2012/13 Kenan Playwriting Fellow at the Kennedy Center, an inaugural 2018 Fellow at TOWN Stages, a two-time Playwriting Fellow at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, an alumnus of FreshGround Pepper Playground Playgroup, an alumnus of SPACE on Ryder Farm, and a finalist for the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab. Prior to Writopia Lab, Matthew worked with kids and teens at the education non-profit, 52nd Street Project (where he had been a kid himself growing up), Marquis Studios, the Kaufman Cultural Center, and Manhattan Theatre Club’s education department. As an actor, he has been seen at Ensemble Studio Theater, New York Theater Workshop, and others. He graduated from the acting school at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Senior HR Manager

Jocelyn is the Senior HR Manager at Writopia Lab and has been delighted to enthusiastically support this mission since 2019. She has a BA in theater, an MA in Museum Studies—Costumes and Textiles—and a certification from SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. She has many years of experience in HR management and operations in the creative industries of publishing, music, and higher education. Prodigiously curious, she loves to learn by reading, discussing, sharing, and doing. Jocelyn is endlessly inspired by the human creative spirit and is grateful to work with the amazing people at Writopia Lab who engage with that spirit every day.

Program Manager, The Writopia Music Lab
Creative Writing and Songwriting Instructor

Malcolm Knowles has been part of the Writopia Lab team since 2018. He is a writer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Houston, Texas, where he learned to record and release music during his teenage years. He later attended Sarah Lawrence College with a focus in Jazz Guitar, Composition, and Radio. During the summer, Malcolm teaches Creative Writing and Songwriting at both the Writopia Full Day camp and WriCampia, and is the Division Head of Upper Boys at WriCampia. After two years of developing the Writopia Songwriting Studio and its camp electives, Malcolm co-designed, launched, and began overseeing the Writopia Music Foundry in 2021. Both programs are offered as part of Writopia's Music Lab. During the school year, Malcolm helps young and teen writers navigate the process of Essay Writing, Creative Writing, and Songwriting. When not teaching, you can often find Malcolm next to the closest musical instrument.

D.C. Regional Manager
Program Manager

Program Manager
Instructor

Tasnim Hussain is a creative writing and essay writing instructor at Writopia Lab, where she offers support to young writers throughout their writing process. Tasnim graduated as salutatorian from Hunter College, where she majored in English with minors in Education and Sociology. She has taught in public schools throughout the city, working with students in many different contexts and settings in English classrooms. In awe of the creative genius of Writopia Lab writers, she finds herself constantly learning from their passion and enthusiasm. In her free time, Tasnim enjoys writing short fiction and free verse poetry, and she has been published in GRLQUASH, a bi-annual literary magazine, and Hunter College's The OliveTree Review.

Manager of Digital Media and Communications

After moving to New York City from Louisiana, Will landed his first post-college job as a video editor and counselor at WriCampia in 2018. He graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design with a BFA in Digital Filmmaking, and has years of experience working in film production. His set experiences include driving a 20-foot grip truck through Times Square, filming in a Staten Island prison, lighting music videos for 88rising, and camera assisting on a Kevin Smith film.

In addition to leading the summer filmmaking elective, including pioneering the Filmmaking Track at WriCampia, Will heads the communications department, produces the anthologies for Writopia Publishing Lab, and maintains Writopia's website—including posting these lovely staff bios! (Hi everyone!)

Enrollment Manager

Rachel Aronson is thrilled to join Writopia Lab as the Enrollment Manager. Rachel brings a decade of experience educating and managing operations for education programs. Before coming to Writopia, Rachel organized field trips to the world's largest landfill, taught elementary schoolers how to build robots, and managed a sustainability certification program for organizations. She has a Masters of Science in childhood education from Hunter College and a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology and environmental studies from the University of Vermont. She is excited to support Writopia Lab's amazing mission as part of the Registration Team!

Program Manager
Instructor

Shanille Martin joined the WriCampia team as a counselor and assistant instructor in 2019 while still at Purchase College (studying Creative Writing and minoring in Psychology and Literature). Since she graduated in 2020, she has been teaching creative writing and debate workshops at camp and at Writopia full-time. Shanille has been published in various magazines and platforms such as Gandy Dancer, Newsweek, Italics Mine, and Submissions Magazine. She is a co-founder of Brown Sugar Literary Magazine which publishes the marginalized voices of women of color. Shanille was the captain of her high school debate team and is thrilled to now not only teach creative writing but also debate at Writopia. She is currently working on her first novel. Shanille’s favorite things about coming to camp are running the Voice Culture Race (VCR) club and seeing returning faces from previous years! 

Office Manager

Alex Minier joined Writopia Lab as Office Manager in January 2023, bringing with him a decade of nonprofit experience. He enjoys the challenges and rewards of making an office hum—from finding the perfect snacks to organizing massive events—and learning every aspect of an organization so that he can always lend a helping hand. A bass player by training and nature, Alex loves to support others in doing their best work.

Alex holds a BA from the University of Wyoming and an MM from New York University. Originally from Nebraska, Alex proudly advocates for more Midwest energy in New York. When he’s not at Writopia Lab, you can find Alex performing with more bands than any reasonable person would consider sane, cycling all over the five boroughs, and playing tabletop games with friends.

Operations and Scholastic Awards Affiliate Manager

Peter Quinn-Jacobs started at Writopia Lab as a Dungeon Master in 2020 and is excited to work full time at the Washington, D.C. office starting in 2022. He has run role-playing games since he was seven years old and enjoys games both in-person and over the internet in a variety of fantasy and science fiction settings. In his free time, he designs his own board games and murder mystery parties. His science fiction has earned an honorable mention in the Writers of the Future competition (2008) and his scholarly work won the William Hamilton Prize at William & Mary Law School (2018) and was a finalist in the American Indian Law Review Competition (2018). He's excited to work with Writopia to spur the imaginations of writers and players through fantasy gaming!

Registration and Outreach Coordinator
Instructor

Christina McDowell is thrilled to be joining Writopia Lab in Washington DC as a writing instructor. She is the author of the critically acclaimed books After Perfect: A Daughter’s Memoir and The Cave Dwellers: A Novel, both published by Gallery Books/Scout Press at Simon & Schuster. In 2018, After Perfect was optioned by Valparaiso Pictures and is currently being adapted for the screen. Christina’s work has appeared in The Washington Post; the Los Angeles Times; The Guardian; O, The Oprah Magazine, LA Weekly, Marie Claire, USA Today, and The Village Voice, among other publications. Christina is also an advocate for children impacted by prison. She taught creative writing to teenage girls at Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles with InsideOUT Writers and served on the advisory board of POPS The Club, the first high school club in the U.S. that uses the written word to transform, heal, and empower youth harmed by mass incarceration. She was awarded for her outstanding advocacy work in 2018. To read more about her work, you can find her at christinamcdowell.com. Christina is currently at work on a new novel and when she is not spending her days writing and rewriting, she loves spending time with her little Havanese, Zelda Fitzgerald.

Instructor and Registration Associate

Carly took Writopia Lab workshops as a child for many years before joining the organization full-time as a Registration Associate and, later, Registration Coordinator. Today, she works part-time as an instructor and mentor for Writopia Lab. She was born and raised in Queens, New York and learned from a young age to speak, write, and read Spanish, thanks to a dual language program at her local public school. She graduated summa cum laude with Bachelor's Degrees in Creative Writing and Spanish from SUNY Purchase College. In 2020, she received the Ginny Wray Senior Prize in Fiction. Her writing has been published by the Gandy Dancer, Horseheads Magazine, and Montez Press Radio. Her fiber art has been displayed by the RIVAA gallery and AHU. 

Part Time HR & Payroll Associate

Tammy Scozzafava is thrilled to be joining Writopia Lab as the Part Time HR & Payroll Associate. Her varied professional experience spans the industries of arts/entertainment, media, and nonprofit organizations, with a focus on operations and human resources. Highlights of her career have been serving as an NBC Page; AEA Stage Manager; Talent Acquisition Partner & HR Generalist for New York Magazine; COO of a boutique theatrical general management & producing firm where she worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and international productions, amongst other projects; and as a member of the global recruitment team for Open Society Foundations, the world's largest private funder of individual groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. Tammy graduated with honors from Vassar College with a BA in Drama and holds a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University. Growing up in a large Italian-American family fostered her deep love for food and tradition; and she is passionate about learning about other cultures through those pillars. Her two mottos for life are: “Eat well, travel often” and “Food is love”.

Instructor

Madeline Stevens has taught writing to adults and children for over ten years! At Writopia Lab, she leads creative and essay writing as well as graphic novel workshops. Madeline holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Portland State University and an MFA from Columbia University. Her first novel was published by Ecco Press in the US, Faber & Faber in the UK, and translated into six languages. Her essays, stories, and other writing have appeared in places such as The Guardian, Electric Literature, CrimeReads, and Monkeybicycle. For three years she was host and curator of the Brooklyn reading series Sundays at Erv’s and is excited to be organizing events along with teaching and program coordinating for children and teens in Los Angeles through Writopia Lab!

Instructor

Jacquelyn Stolos can barely contain her excitement about joining the Writopia Lab team in Los Angeles this spring! Jacquelyn began her writing career as an elementary schooler filling up spiral-bound notebooks while perched on a mossy rock in the woods behind her childhood home. Her habits have barely changed since. She studied English and French literature at Georgetown University, where she completed an honors thesis of short stories and won the Annabelle Bonner Medal for short fiction. For her masters, Jacquelyn was awarded the Writers in the Public Schools fellowship to study fiction in New York University’s MFA program. She has also workshopped at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop, and the New York Summer Writers Institute. Her short fiction has appeared in The Atticus Review, Conte Online, and The Oddville Press. Jacquelyn is an ardent believer in the power of story and is always looking for ways to spread the love through education. She previously worked as a teaching artist at Teachers and Writers Collaborative, leading creative writing workshops in elementary and middle school classrooms, as well as an adjunct professor at New York University. Jacquelyn's first novel, Edendale, will be released by Creature Publishing, a feminist horror press, in the spring of 2020.

Instructor

Sophia is thrilled to be joining Writopia Lab, Westchester as a Writing Instructor. Sophia is an author of books for children and young adults. Her first book, What Things Mean, is a young adult novel published by Scholastic Asia (2016). This work won the Grand Prize at the 2014 Scholastic Asian Book Awards, and is one of the first young adult stories about the Philippines to have been published by Scholastic. What Things Mean was included in the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Top 10 Books of 2016. Her second book, a children's picture book titled Soaring Saturdays, won 2nd Prize at the Samsung KidsTime Authors' Awards (2015). It was digitized into an interactive e-book app in 2016 and is set for print release by Scholastic Asia in 2018. Sophia wanted to be many things growing up: doctor, teacher, ballerina, ninja, crime-fighting international spy, wizard, time traveler, journalist, and lawyer. She likes to think she can be all these things through writing. She studied creative writing at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and is currently a Creative Writing MFA Candidate with a concentration in Writing for Children and Young Adults at The New School in New York City. You can find her online at www.sophianlee.com.

Instructor

Justin Allen is excited to be an instructor at Writopia Lab. Justin is the author of two novels, Slaves of the Shinar and Year of the Horse. He is also the author of three plays. Murder at the Masque: The Casebook of Edgar Allen Poe and Gilbert and Sullivan, The Ballet! were both commissioned and produced by Dances Patrelle. The Beatitudes was commissioned by Eidolon Ballet in Concert and was produced for the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival. Justin is curently formulating a new script, which he wants to call Superhero: The Legend of the Lightning Defender. Justin earned his MFA at Columbia University and studied Comic Book Scripting at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He loves fantasy and science-fiction, mystery and alternate history, love stories and comic books, and he adores work that defies classification. He has taught writing as a part of the Columbia Writing Workshops at Bank Street College of Education, led a seminar focusing on graphic novels and comic books at Bethesda Academy, and spent years as a children's ballet master in New York City. He looks forward to reveling weekly in the work of the talented and creative young writers that make Writopia Lab a special place.

Instructor
Artistic Director of Writopia Plays Festival
Playwriting and Screenwriting Specialist

Dan Kitrosser has been teaching year-round at Writopia Lab since 2007. He teaches musical theater, playwriting, language play, and fiction workshops, and also produces and directs Writopia Lab's annual Best Playwrights' Festival. Dan is the resident storyteller at Central Park and an award-winning playwright. His plays and musicals have appeared at Urban Stages, 45 Bleecker Theatre, The Ohio Theatre, The Brooklyn Lyceum and American Place Theatre. His children's musical, Night of the Butterfly, has been declared "a winning original musical!" by TimeOut Kids, and had an extended Off-Broadway run. He was the recipient of the 2010 Brooklyn Arts Council Grant for his one-man musical The Legend of Ichabod Crane (Halloween Pick - Village Voice) which he continues to tour around the city. At Writopia, six of Dan's students have won "Best Play" in Stephen Sondheim's 2008, 2009, and 2010 Write a Play! contests, and many others were named finalists or won honorable mentions. A graduate of NYU, Dan's screenplays include Old Days, directed by Matt Shapiro and starring Brad Oscar (Tony Nomination, The Producers) and Mary Beth Piel (Dawson's Creek) and Bodybuilder Island, directed by Matthew Kliegman. Dan has been a final committee judge for the Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival for four years (this coming summer will be his fifth). Dan's play Be Here Now won this festival and was a finalist in Stephen Sondheim's National Playwriting Competition.

Volunteer Mentor

Joe, who will be joining Writopia Lab as a volunteer writing mentor, is the author of three novels; nonfiction books on science, natural history, and baseball; and a bunch of mystery short stories. He's also worked as a mentor for writing students (everything from middle schoolers through adults) for many years, and may love that part of his life the most. He lives in Westchester with his family, which currently includes two kittens and a patient old dog.

Registration Associate

Jem is a former student of Writopia Lab’s creative writing workshops and is incredibly excited to rejoin the Writopia family as a registration associate. Jem is a graduate of Ithaca College, where he studied writing and theater. Inspired by Writopia Lab, Jem founded a student theater group at Ithaca College that focused on workshopping and producing original plays and musicals. With this group, Jem produced five shows and workshopped many more. Jem enjoys writing magical realism, absurdism, and urban fantasy. He is well studied in writing many forms, such as novel writing, short story, playwriting, screenwriting, poetry, and more. He is currently working on two novel projects. Jem is also an accomplished musician and composer, having played the flute for nearly 12 years, and is currently learning piano. Outside of writing and playing music, Jem enjoys watching movies, playing video games, and seeing what New York City has in store for him.

Instructor

Amy Dupcak is the author of Dust, Short Stories (2016) and co-editor and designer of Words After Dark: A Lyrics, Lit & Liquor Anthology (2020). After studying Creative Writing and Film History at Sarah Lawrence, she earned an MFA in Fiction from The New School. She has worked as a music and culture journalist, assistant editor, adjunct English professor, and high-school creative writing teacher. Amy has been a Writopia instructor since 2012, primarily working with teens in different capacities. She also works with adults across genres at The Writer’s Rock as an instructor, mentor, editor, and manager.

Amy's fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Sonora Review, Entropy, Phoebe, Fringe, Litro, Hypertext, Bookanista, and other literary journals, while her poetry has appeared in Pangyrus, Passengers, District Lit, The Night Heron Barks, The Blue Mountain Review, American Writers Review, and Alternative Field & Avenue 50 Studio’s “In Isolation” anthology. She is currently working on a second story collection as well as a novel.

Instructor

Samantha Schnell is excited to join the team at Writopia Lab! Sam is a writer and teacher from New York City whose work has appeared in Witness Magazine and Eclectica Magazine and is forthcoming in Sonora Review. She has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Columbia University, but these days she mostly writes poetry. She loves working creatively with kids and teenagers and has taught writing at Columbia University, The Ali Forney Center and East Harlem Tutorial Program. When she's not writing or teaching, Sam is trying to keep up with her dog, cat and toddler, all of whom appear regularly in her poems.

Instructor

Rafaela Bassili is so thrilled to join Writopia Lab as a part-time Creative Writing instructor. Rafaela is a writer and translator from São Paulo, Brazil, who writes about movies and culture. Her work has been featured in Gawker, Notebook MUBI, Paste Magazine, and elsewhere. She has an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University, where she was a Teaching Fellow. Before that, she got a Bachelor's Degree in Screenwriting at Chapman University in Southern California. Rafaela loves movies, books, and workshops—she is so excited to be a part of the Writopia community!

Instructor

Sarah Bernstein is an award-winning teacher and playwright. Sarah studied playwriting with Paula Vogel at Brown University, and her work has been produced and/or developed with companies throughout the country, including the Lark Play Development Center, the Amoralists, Forward Flux Productions,The Motor Company, the Source Festival, FullStop Collective, Caps Lock Theatre, the American Globe Theatre, Project Y, and the New Voices Project. Her play, Perpetuation, and her adaptation of Les Miserables, will be published by Playscripts, Inc. next year. After falling in love with Writopia Lab through her work on the Worldwide Plays Festival, she is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Writopia's brilliant students and staff as an instructor.

Instructor

Jane Young began teaching Writopia Lab workshops in 2019. Her plays have been seen in over a dozen Off- and Off Off-Broadway venues in New York, and her short film, "River," was screened in international festivals in New York City, Toronto, Brazil, and Houston. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, where she served as a non-fiction editor for its literary magazine, Lumina. Her fiction debuted in the premier issue of the magazine, and additional stories have been published in Rock and a Hard Place Magazine. She previously collaborated with former New Directions Publishing editor and author Thomas Keith on several plays, and a book of their poetry, The Histories of Gladys, was published by Mellon Poetry Press, resulting in a critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway production directed by Obie Award-winner Edward Cornell. Past teaching credits include State University of New York at Purchase College, the Women’s Correctional Facility at Bedford Hills, LEAP, and Goddard-Riverside Community Center, and she currently teaches adults in several genres at The Writer's Rock.

Instructor

Kendra is so excited to join the Writopia Lab team as a Creative Writing and College Essay Instructor! She is inspired by the energy and imagination of young writers and is thrilled to watch them discover and develop their own unique voices. Originally from the Pennsylvania countryside, Kendra graduated from York College of Pennsylvania with a BS in biology, a BA in professional writing, and a minor in creative writing. In 2021, she completed her MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia University. During her academic career, Kendra was very active in publishing, from leading as an editor-in-chief for a campus newspaper and literary magazine, to serving as a poetry board and nonfiction board member of the Columbia Journal. Kendra is always looking to stay busy and active in the city; she is an NJCAA College Basketball Official, supervises the Intramural Sport program at Columbia University, and is a professional taste tester in SoHo. She’s working on two books: a memoir with focus on her transition to New York City and the social dynamics and unthinkable experiences as a taste tester, and a nonfiction book that combines memoir, history, interviews, and research to examine undocumented historical events with the theme of rewriting one’s own memories.

Instructor

Vanessa Walters is thrilled to join the Writopia Lab in Brooklyn, teaching creative writing across all age groups. She is a novelist, playwright, poet, and journalist with an LLB in Law and French Law from the University College of London. Her published books are Rude Girls, Best Things in Life (Pan Macmillan, UK), Smoke! Othello! (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea), and The Lagos Wife (Simon & Schuster US, Penguin RandomHouse, UK). Vanessa has also had several plays staged, most recently Michael X (Almeida Theatre, UK). She has previously been a journalist for Thomson Reuters, The Financial Times, and The Guardian Nigeria. She has fellowships from Tin House and The Millay Colony. She has previously taught creative writing workshops to children via The Arvon Foundation in the UK and as the Writer-In-Residence for The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. She has also, as part of the self-founded Hidden Country collective, delivered free online weekly writing workshops to the community since 2020. Vanessa is on the Pen Parentis board and the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music advisory council. Atria Books will publish her forthcoming novel, Black Excellence, in 2026.  In her spare time, Vanessa plays Mom to her two children and tends to her out-of-control TBR in Brooklyn.

Instructor

Allie Hoback joined Writopia Lab as an instructor in December 2024. Allie is a poet and essayist from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. She earned her BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University. Allie has served as editorial staff for several literary journals, including Quarterly West, Salt Hill Journal, and Blackbird. Her work has appeared in New Ohio Review, HAD (Hobart After Dark), The Boiler, and elsewhere. An AmeriCorps Colorado alumni, she has previously worked in a garden center, as a sandwich slinger, in university writing centers, and as an adjunct college professor. She lives in Washington, DC

Instructor

Writopia Lab has been a part of Kaley's life since she was eleven years old and joined her first workshop. Now she's an instructor and she's so happy to be back! After receiving her BA in Film and Media Studies at Columbia University (Summa Cum Laude), Kaley went on to earn her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she received the Graduate Venable Herndon Award in Screenwriting. Kaley's work for the screen has been recognized by the Academy Nicholl Fellowship and the Black List, and her plays have been produced across the East Coast. When not writing or teaching, you can find Kaley at her karate dojo. She's thrilled to once again enter the magical spaces of Writopia Lab!

Instructor

Alison Doherty loves working with writers of all ages at Writopia Lab. She also teaches writing classes to freshman at The New School. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in 2016 with a concentration in writing for children and teenagers. For undergrad, Alison studied English Literature at Smith College and The University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Before moving to New York, Alison worked as a classroom teacher and a curriculum consultant at Harvard EdLabs. Now, when she isn't teaching, Alison is working on her first YA novel and writing about books for Book Riot.

Communications and Recruiting Advisor

Eunju Namkung has been part of the Writopia Lab family since 2008. Eunju advises Writopia Lab on aspects of communications strategy and implementation. She is passionate about promoting Writopia Lab's values around creative writing and creativity, care for children, diversity and inclusion, and social responsibility and ethics. She helps oversee brand development and manages projects that showcases Writopia Lab and its staff's expertise. Previously with Writopia Lab, Eunju founded the filmmaking program in 2014, including developing the Writopia Lab filmmaking method, hosting several film festivals, and producing over 100 student projects. She also served as a creative and essay writing workshop instructor, and has an exceptional passion for college essay writing instruction. In her capacity as a Communications and Development Officer, Eunju supported the grant acquisition process, and developed print and digital materials for Writopia Lab, including video, photography, and graphic design. Predating her professional contributions to Writopia Lab, Eunju was a student herself in Rebecca Wallace-Segall's workshops and considers herself to be a Writopian forever. (In fact, she volunteers her time to help lead the Forever Writopians Alumni Collective. Contact Eunju@WritopiaLab.org to learn more!) Eunju earned her B.A. in Film and Media Studies at Yale University and her Masters in Public Administration and a Masters in Urban & Regional Planning at Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs. She calls Riverdale, Bronx, New York City home. While she loves her adopted home of Arlington, Virginia, she wants to know, where the bagels at?

Instructor

Di Jayawickrema is thrilled to be part of the Writopia Lab team! She is a Sri Lankan New Yorker who is passionate about cross-genre writing, community-building, and youth mentorship. Di has mentored youth since she herself was a teenager, and has founded and facilitated writing communities for young writers, women and non-binary writers, and writers of color throughout her adulthood. Her cross-genre writing has appeared in numerous literary journals, including wildness, Jellyfish Review, Pithead Chapel, and Entropy, and has been nominated for Best of the Net and anthologized in Best Microfiction. She received an honors degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, and has been awarded fellowships from Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation and Kundiman. She is currently on staff at the award-winning publications, The Offing and The Rumpus, and is working on a book as often as her joyous, rambunctious infant will allow her!

Instructor

Celine Aenlle-Rocha is thrilled to be a creative, essay, and college essay writing instructor at Writopia Lab NYC. She is a writer from Miami and Los Angeles, residing in Washington Heights, New York City. She has contributed to literary magazines HIKA, Luna de la cosecha, Broad! Magazine, The Suburban Review, Pen + Brush, and Salt + Pepper, among others. Celine is pursuing an MFA in Fiction at Columbia University, where she is a volunteer instructor with Columbia Artists as Teachers, the Online Editor for the Columbia Journal, and Co-President of Our Word, the School of the Arts' student organization committed to championing inclusiveness in literature. She previously attended Kenyon College and the Columbia Publishing Course. Before Writopia, she marketed academic books at Oxford University Press for several years. Her writing is inspired by her family history from Havana to New Orleans to Los Angeles, and she loves helping emerging writers discover their own voices at Writopia.

Instructor

Samantha has been involved with Writopia Lab in various capacities since its inception in Rebecca's studio apartment in 2007 and is so excited to now come onboard as an instructor. Having begun her Writopia journey as a student and later having worked as a WriCampia counsellor, Samantha has witnessed first-hand the incredible impact Writopia Lab has on its young writers and is a passionate believer in its mission to empower children and teenagers through the medium of storytelling.

Samantha’s own writing career kicked off when she was 11 years old when a short story of hers was published in the Anthology of Short Stories by Young Americans. She has since gone on to write essays and opinion pieces that have been published on websites such as Girl With Pen and Forbes.com. After attending drama school in Boston, Samantha graduated with a BA in English Literature with Journalism from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. Samantha now lives in Bath and has most recently been working with high school students on short story and essay writing while completing an MA in Law.

Instructor

Reuben is ridiculously excited to join the Writopia Lab team! Reuben is a children’s author and the ghostwriter of ten books in the iconic Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mystery series for Simon & Schuster. While Reuben loves writing for kids and young adults, his storytelling experience spans a variety of genres and media. He is an award-winning independent filmmaker and screenwriter whose work has appeared in film festivals around the world. Reuben graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in Media Production and minored in Journalism and Mass Communication. When he’s not writing, you can often find him helping other writers as a university guest lecturer and freelance editor—and now as a Writopia Lab instructor.

Instructor

Emily is thrilled to be joining the Writopia Lab team! She has taught creative writing around the world to writers of all ages, and particularly loves connecting with young writers. Emily currently teaches writing to undergraduates at NYU and Columbia University, where she received an MFA in nonfiction writing. She has implemented creative writing curricula in her classrooms both as a high school English teacher on Cape Cod and a second grade teacher in New York City. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Emily spent a year teaching and performing poetry while collaborating with spoken word communities in eight countries. She worked with young writers through organizations including the Word Warriors in Kathmandu and the Children’s Art Museum of Nepal, where she was an artist-in-residence. As an undergraduate at Wesleyan University, where she majored in English/creative writing and dance, she taught creative writing at the Kibera School for Girls in Nairobi. Emily’s writing has been published in Longreads, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and HAD, among other places, and her spoken word poetry has been featured on HuffPost, Bustle, and Button Poetry. She has been awarded writing residencies from the Vermont Studio Center and the Adirondack Center for Writing. Emily loves that she can combine her passions for teaching and writing at Writopia Lab!

Instructor

Lil Gellman is over the moon — and probably a number of other celestial objects — to join Writopia Lab. As a former writer here, they are so pleased to be a Writopian in an official capacity once more. Lil comes to Writopia fresh from W. W. Norton & Company, where they worked from 2017 through 2020, most recently as an assistant editor. They feel energized to pursue distinct but related passions as a writer and educator. Lil earned a BA in American Studies and a certificate in gender studies from Princeton University in 2017, graduating with honors. During their time there, they were the recipient of the 2017 Asher Hinds Thesis Prize for Excellence in American Studies, and a 2015 Martin A. Dale Summer Award for independent writing and travel. They studied creative nonfiction under John McPhee, and completed coursework in fiction, poetry, songwriting, and screenwriting. Lil is currently working on a collection of interlinked essays and short stories.

Instructor

Abhigna is super pumped to be starting as a Creative Writing Instructor with Writopia Lab. She is originally from Bangalore, India, and is currently based in New York City. Abhigna is an MFA Fiction candidate at Columbia University, where she is also a Graduate Teaching Fellow. She has been nominated for the 2021 Henfield Prize in Fiction and has served as the Columns editor for Columbia Journal. Her favorite part of teaching writing is the opportunity to see young writers discover their love for writing and the unique voices they bring to the page.

Instructor

Sarah Yukiko Klena is thrilled to be a part of the Writopia Lab team! She is originally from the Tidewater region of Virginia and is currently based in New York City. Sarah is pursuing an MFA in Fiction at Columbia University, where she was selected as a Teaching Fellow. She previously attended Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University as part of the Dual BA Program between the two institutions. Before Writopia Lab, she worked in marketing and communications. She has taught undergraduate creative writing at Columbia and is the co-founder of a French-language literary magazine that aims to uplift diverse francophone voices. She loves working with writers to discover their voices and understand the value of their stories.

Instructor

Niki Fakhoori is beyond ecstatic to be joining Writopia Lab as an instructor. A student of both Sequential Art and Writing from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Niki has experience as an independent comic artist, freelance writer, and teacher. She writes feature articles, essays, and reviews for digital publications about various subjects, predominantly video games and eSports, and also enjoys recording podcasts and video reviews. She unabashedly believes in the limitless power of collaboration and communication, of which writing is the cornerstone. When she isn’t writing, she’s likely playing video games, after which she will undoubtedly write about them.

Instructor

Kelly Hudson is delighted to become an instructor with Writopia Lab! Kelly is based in Los Angeles, originally hails from Austin, Texas and is a working writer, actor, and podcaster. She co-created the fake takeout menu FUDS, and co-authored the book FUDS: A Complete Encyclofoodia with Dan Klein and fellow Writopia Lab instructor Arthur Meyer. Kelly has also written for Funny or Die, Adult Swim, and The Onion, and is an Upright Citizens Brigade alum. Kelly’s fondest memories of school and college were the creative writing workshops she took part in where she blossomed as a writer and a creative human being. She is so honored to carry on that legacy as an instructor for Writopia Lab!

Instructor

Andres Vaamonde originally joined the Writopia Lab community not as an instructor but as a student writer! Growing up, he attended Writopia workshops and participated in the Worldwide Plays Festival and Teen Night at the Nuyorican. He's since graduated from Cornell University with a BA in English, where he founded the University's spoken word poetry club, edited a fiction column in the Cornell Daily Sun, and taught writing to incarcerated students. He's been a bike messenger, a bricklayer, and a firefighter. But most recently he worked for three years as an international literary book scout, reading and reporting on new fiction and nonfiction titles for book publishers in other countries, as well as for Netflix for book-to-film adaptation. In addition to working at Writopia, Andres teaches English through a language learning program offered by the Office of Immigrant Affairs in New York. His fiction and nonfiction has appeared in HASH Journal, Quip Literary Review, great weather for MEDIA, Fortune Magazine, OZY, and elsewhere. He's also been named a Finalist for the Marianne Russo Award for Emerging Writers (2020) and is the forthcoming Philip Roth Resident in Creative Writing at Bucknell University (Spring, 2022).

Instructor

Amy George is thrilled to join Writopia Lab as an Instructor! Amy grew up in India and is a resident of the Bay Area. She graduated from the MFA program in Creative Writing at Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, where she was the Kearny Street Workshop Fellow. She was awarded a Fellowship by the San Francisco Writers Grotto and has attended workshops with Tin House and the Community of Writers. Her work was featured and is forthcoming in the Oyster River Pages and Aster(ix) Journal. She enjoys spending time with her husband, their children ages 10 and 8, and their 12-year-old canine. She is currently at work on a novella.

Assistant Instructor

Nathan Mortenson is happy to be joining the Writopia Lab team as an assistant instructor! In 2015, Nathan fell in love with Writopia as a camper at the Dungeons and Dragons Winter Retreat. Over the next few years, Nathan was alternately an intern, camp counselor, and writer in Writopia workshops, discovering his passions for writing, Dungeons and Dragons, and working with young people at the same time. Nathan graduated from Hampshire college with a Bachelor’s degree in the arts. He now works at Nest+M as an assistant teacher during school hours, in addition to helping run the workshops Writopia holds after school. Nathan is an aspiring author, with a fantasy novel on the path to publication (hopefully).

Assistant Instructor

 Finn Mott is an Assistant Creative Writing Instructor at Writopia Lab, helping young writers develop their voices and bring their creative ideas to life. Finn holds a BA in English with a focus on creative writing and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at The New School, where they are honing their craft and exploring innovative approaches to teaching writing. They are the author of several poetry collections, including Viral and his salt and her flower. Their work focuses on themes of resilience, identity, and creative self-expression. At Writopia Lab, Finn is passionate about fostering creativity and the joy of storytelling while building strong foundational writing skills.

Instructor

Matthew Pancer is thrilled to be joining the Writopia Lab LA team as a creative writing and filmmaking instructor! Originally from Toronto, Canada, Matthew first came to Los Angeles to study at the prestigious American Film Institute, where he received his MFA in Screenwriting. Since graduating, Matthew’s thesis film, Akeda, has screened at over 20 festivals and has won six awards. His screenplays have also been optioned by esteemed producers, including The Breakfast Club’s Michelle Manning. These accomplishments secured him representation from the industry-leading Creative Artists Agency. When Matthew is not writing or making movies, he is teaching, having lectured at York University for their screenwriting and business courses. Matthew also has experience in journalism, having written articles for Entity Magazine: For Women That Do.

Instructor

Kellie Watkins is a writer and co-owner of Jahphut, a small publishing company. She is the author of If These Shoes Could Talk: The Awakening and Savvy Diva’s Take On…44 Days of Random Thoughts & Observations, under her pen name, Jahzara the Savvy Diva.

Kellie possesses her MFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University and a BA in Journalism/Mass Media and Communications from the University of the District of Columbia. If Kellie isn’t sleeping or devouring her favorite cupcakes, she’s writing and pitching screenplay ideas, sharing random thoughts and observations through her blog and social media platforms, teaching creative writing workshops, or empowering the youth through community engagement. Kellie is also a ghost writer and provides book consulting services to aspiring writers who are stalled in their journeys. In between inhaling and exhaling, she pauses to appreciate her family of humans, lions, and wolves.

Assistant Instructor

Genevieve Scott is overjoyed to be part of the Writopia Lab team as an assistant creative writing instructor. A Brooklyn native, she is also a writer, visual artist, and actress who has been exercising her creative muscles since she was a little girl in her grandmother’s in-house school. She deeply values the influence of art within an educational landscape and graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in creative writing and visual arts. Her series of sculptures made from hair has been featured in the NYC Culture Club at the World Trade Center. She is also currently working on a novel, a work of autofiction inspired by her coming-of-age in New York City. Genevieve looks forward to inspiring, but even more
importantly, being inspired by the young creators at Writopia.

Instructor

Jordan K. Casomar is delighted to be joining Writopia Lab as an instructor! Jordan is a prose writer with essays in The Kenyon Review, Catapult, and elsewhere. He received a MacDowell Fellowship in 2021, was the nonfiction runner-up in The Pinch’s 2018 Spring Literary Awards, and is an alum of the VONA conference for writers of color. Jordan has an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Minnesota. His first novel—a dramedy about high schoolers, toxic masculinity, and the so-called friendzone—is forthcoming. Jordan loves teaching writing workshops and running D&D games. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and their two cats, Tuleg Rasputin III and Little Girl.

Instructor

With an abundance of joy, Damien McClendon is joining the Writopia Lab team as an instructor. Damien is a poet who believes poetry can and should not just be read but also heard. Originally from Youngstown, OH, Damien moved to New York City in 2022 and is currently obtaining his MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, where he was awarded the Max Ritvo fellowship. Damien received his BA in Pan-African studies from Kent State University where he founded a poetry writing workshop in collaboration with the Wick Poetry Center, and Co-founded Kent State's first nationally competing poetry slam team. Damien was a finalist in the 2017 Individual World Poetry Slam and was a member of Cleveland's National Poetry Slam team, which ranked in the top 10 at the 2018 National Poetry Slam. In that same year, he was named Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights (2018 to 2020) and was recipient of the 2018 Cleveland Arts Prize On the Verge fellowship for literature. His performances have been published by Button Poetry and Write About Now and have received over 400,000 views on various social media platforms. As a teaching artist, Damien has worked with universities, public and private schools, and nonprofit organizations and has over five years experience teaching poetry writing and performance as well as creative writing in general to scholars of all ages. Damien is ecstatic about helping the scholars at Writopia Lab find their way as young writers!

Private Sessions Coordinator

Lizz Mangan (they/them) is thrilled to be with the Writopia Lab team as the Private Sessions Coordinator and an instructor.

Lizz received their BA in Theater Studies with a concentration in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from the University of Connecticut. They also attended the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s Advanced Playwriting program in Spring 2018. As a playwright, Lizz's work has been seen across the country in Minneapolis, Connecticut, New York, Maine, Colorado, Florida, and Vermont. They are also a founding member of Eleven & One Theatre Collective. In 2023, they were named a finalist for the INKubator series with Art House Productions.

In their free time, Lizz enjoys walks in Central Park, adding to their vibrant earring collection, and touring New York in pursuit of the best bagel in the city (they have a list they are happy to show upon request).

Operations and Program Associate
Instructor

Joey has loved every second of being a part of the Writopia Lab team! Since joining Writopia in 2021 as a filmmaking counselor at WriCampia, he has worked in New York as both a filmmaking and creative writing instructor. Based in Toms River, New Jersey, Joey received his B.A. in TV/Film from DeSales University in 2021, where he enjoyed writing and producing. While attending DeSales, he produced numerous short films, including his senior thesis “Altered” which is currently in its festival run, and “Fall From Dysphoria” which debuted in 2019 at the Dance on Camera College Exchange at The Lincoln Center. Joey was also the head producer of the DeSales University Film Festival in 2021. He has enjoyed working with writers and filmmakers of all ages through Writopia, and continues to be amazed by the creativity and joy that each workshop brings! When not working as an instructor, Joey loves photography, watching bad comedy movies, and the Mets (most of the time.)

Instructor

Alice joined Writopia Lab as a WriCampia counselor, where she had such a great time she just had to come back and instruct. Alice is a creative writing student at Sarah Lawrence College, where she won the Nancy Lynn Schwartz Prize for Fiction Writing. Her fiction is absurd, satirical, and interested in highlighting the good and bad of queer and disabled life while earning a few chuckles. Alice has spent years working with LGBTQ+ kids professionally and wrote instructional material for educators interested in centering queer experiences. Outside of writing, she spends her time chasing the perfect egg salad recipe, checking Yankees stats, and competing in crossword competitions. She’s so excited to work with the passionate young writers at Writopia; it’s the best inspiration around!

Instructor

Samantha Arriozola (she/her/hers) is a Chicana writer and youth worker from the Chicagoland-area. She has spent the past eight years working in nonprofit spaces and community centers in Madison, WI and New York City. She has been with Writopia Lab since 2020, and even went to camp for the first time since she was ten for WriCampia 2021. Sam received her B.A. in English/Creative Writing as a proud member of the 8th Cohort of First Wave—a Hip-Hop and urban arts full-tuition scholarship program at UW-Madison, centering the pursuit of higher education with arts, academics, and activism. Sam is a poet with roots in the world of spoken word poetry and slam, a background that has carried over in coaching young spoken word artists to compete in the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival in 2017 and 2018. Sam's poetry has been published in Pinwheel Journal (2018) and Cutthroat Journal: Contemporary Chicanx Writers Anthology (2020). Sam lives in Queens with her human and plant roommates, editing both her own and fellow writers' work with chamomile tea by her side.

Instructor

Paulina Tesnow is excited to join the Writopia Lab team. She is passionate about writing and fostering creativity in young people. Paulina holds a degree from Kent State University, where she majored in Digital Filmmaking and minored in Creative Writing. Before moving to New York to pursue her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College, Paulina spent two years in the AmeriCorps program City Year. During her time in City Year, she served as a student success coach, building students’ social-emotional learning skills and assisting in an English Language Arts classroom. Paulina has also spent years working as a teaching artist, facilitating creative writing workshops for all grade levels. Outside of writing, Paulina also enjoys film, music, and theatre.

Instructor

Helena Grande is thrilled to be working with Writopia Lab as a writing instructor. Helena is the author of Speech Choke (2020) and she has recently graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. She has taught creative writing to middle schoolers and has experience working in universities, museums, and art organizations. She has developed and delivered writing classes, art programs, and interactive guided tours for children, adults, and people with visual impairment. Her writing has appeared in Dostoyevsky Wannabe, Fictional Journal, nY, diSONARE, and Editions Clinamen, among others. Her work was supported by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, The New School, and WriteOn NYC Fellowship. Originally from Spain, Helena has lived in The Netherlands for many years, and now she lives in Queens, New York. She is currently working on a novel, and when she is not writing, she is sharing her time with her loved ones.

Instructor

Ella Davidson is happily beginning her journey as an instructor at Writopia Lab in New York City. She is a playwright, actor and director from Albany, New York, currently residing in Brooklyn. Ella studied Drama and Dramatic writing at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where several of her plays were produced. Most recently she wrote, directed, and starred in her show The Ben Shapiro Project, which enjoyed a sold out run at The Brick theater in Williamsburg and was featured in Time Out New York. Ella loves writing comedy, personal narrative, and absurdism, and loves the combination of genres even more. She hopes to encourage a love of creativity and storytelling in young writers through Writopia Lab.

Game Leader

After many years of attending workshops as a young writer, Knox Daddi (he/him/his) is proudly joining Writopia Lab as an RPG Game Leader! Before joining the team, Knox studied creative writing for visual media at Hampshire College, and graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts in 2021. Knox is queer, trans, and a third-generation New Yorker. He is also an avid player of Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop RPG systems, at times boasting as many as four different weekly campaigns as both player and game leader. He is passionate about the unique group storytelling experience these games foster, and can't wait to lead even more new adventurers through fantastical worlds!

When not cycling between his different campaigns, Knox develops pitches for animated television series, takes his dog on long walks through Riverside Park, and works on craft projects such as cosplay or plush character dolls (his current undertaking). He is thrilled to be working with Writopia Lab in his home neighborhood of the Upper West Side of Manhattan!

Instructor

Brittany Wallace is delighted to be back with Writopia Lab teaching Creative Writing and Essay Writing workshops in Washington, DC. She began her Writopia journey in 2018 as a counselor at WriCampia, where she fell in love with the organization, its mission, and its people. Brittany earned her Bachelor’s degree from Montana State University in 2017, where she majored in English with a minor in Human Development. She spent the following years balancing writing and publishing short fiction with working with kids, first as a preschool teacher in Montana and then as a middle school Behavior Specialist in Milwaukie, Oregon. Now, having finally landed in DC, she feels so glad to be working with Writopia Lab and so lucky to get to work with so many amazing young writers. When she’s not reading, writing, or teaching, Brittany can usually be found exploring her new city with her partner and dog.

Instructor

Liz Lawson is thrilled to be joining Writopia's DC lab as an instructor! She is the New York Times bestselling author of The Agathas, The Night In Question: An Agathas Mystery (with Kathleen Glasgow) and The Lucky Ones.

Her books have been featured by the Today show, People, Buzzfeed, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and more, and published in nine countries. The Night in Question is a Today Show 2023 Read with Jenna Jr. pick. The Agathas was the Barnes & Noble YA Book Club pick of May 2022, the Target/Epic Reads Book Club pick of May/June 2022, and named a best book of 2022 by Waterstones. The Lucky Ones was named a "Best Book of 2020" by both Kirkus Reviews and the Chicago Public Library.

She lives in the DC metro area with her family and two very bratty cats.

Instructor

Jess is an educator and creative who is energized to join the Writopia Lab team as a writing instructor! Originally from Los Angeles, Jess moved to New York City in 2021 to earn her MA in Philosophy and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Throughout her degree, she dedicated herself to merging real life experiences with academic theorizing through her reflective and personalized writing style. The highlight of her graduate degree was the Arthur Zankel fellowship Jess was awarded to develop and facilitate a media and social change curriculum for 5th graders at P.S. 187. She loved working with students to explore storytelling through different mediums like zines, comics, collages, and even memes. Previously, Jess was the State News Editor of the country’s oldest-running student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal, housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where Jess got her undergraduate degrees in both Philosophy and Education Studies. Jess enjoys riding her bike, playing guitar, thrift shopping, journaling, and now, instructing the exploration of identity and voice through essays at Writopia Lab!

Instructor

Holli is thrilled to be joining Writopia Lab in New York City as a part-time instructor. She is a writer of plays, screenplays, and short stories and recently graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with her Master’s in Creative Writing.

As a playwright, Holli has been awarded the Terrence G. Hall Fellowship, a Dramatist Guild Fellow, and an EST/Sloan Grant. Her play “Make John Patrick Shanley Go Home” is published in Smith & Krause’s “Anthology Of 50 Best Ten Minute Plays.” Several of her plays have been produced both nationally and internationally by Rover Dramawerks, Plano Texas, Sky Blue Theatre Co UK, Estrogenius Festival NYC, Edgemar Center Santa Monica, City Theatre, Miami, to name a few. As a screenwriter, her short narrative "Icarus Stops For Breakfast" has won 23 awards from over 35 festivals around the world. Holli’s short story “Cereal and Fire” is published online with Penmen Review. Her story, “The Russians,” is published online in Dead Mule Southern Literature, as well as her essay “I Grew Up.” Holli is a member of Ensemble Studio Theater and Dramatist Guild. She is a guest lecturer for The School of Visual Arts film department, working with first-time filmmakers on their scripts, as well as, a proud mentor with Girls Write Now. Holli’s passions are running, she has two New York City Marathons under her belt, traveling, walking her dog Arlo Guthrie Marshmallow, reading, and spending time with her family. Holli is currently in the middle of her first novel. She is thrilled to be working with Writopia’s wonderful students and staff.

Instructor

Zoe Donovan is a Writopia Lab alum, a former high school intern, a WriCampia counselor and Co-Division Head, and is thrilled to continue to be a part of the Writopia community! Originally from Westchester County, NY, Zoe spent her high school years writing music, performing in and directing plays, and exploring poetry and playwriting at Writopia. As an undergraduate at Brown University, Zoe worked as a music mentor at New Urban Arts, founded an online zine dedicated to publishing work by young LGBTQIA+ writers, and continued her involvement in theater and music. She recently graduated with a B.A. in Africana Studies and Music, and plans to continue working as an aspiring producer, songwriter, and playwright.

Instructor

Amalia Oliva Rojas (she/her/ella) is a Mexican poet, performer, and theater artivist based in Nueva York. Her work centers and archives the stories, myths, and legends told by her family, her community, and fellow immigrant women. She is a proud alumnus of the Vassar College Powerhouse Theater Apprentice Program and CUNY Lehman College. Residencies Include Pen America's DREAMing Out Loud fellowship, New Perspectives Theater Company Women's Work Short and Full-Length Play Lab, NYU Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics, EmergeNYC Program, Culture Hub's Thriving Changemakers, Beam's Center Lighthouse Artist Residency at Governors Island, among others. Her plays include Tonantzin On the 7 Train (PEN AMERICA), A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Succeed in the Myth-Making Business (Lehman College), How to Melt ICE (or How the Coyote fell in love with the lizard who was really a butterfly) (New York Women’s Fund Grant, New Perspectives Theatre Company and Boundless Theater Company, LATA Award for Outstanding Playwriting), and In The Bronx Brown Girls Can See Stars Too (Titan Theatre Company Future Classics Festival). 

She is currently pursuing her MFA in Playwriting at Columbia University as an inaugural The Lily’s Lorraine Hansberry Fellow and as the recipient of the Dean Carol Becker Scholarship. Amalia is super excited to be with Writopia Lab!

Assistant Instructor

Colleen Martin is excited to join the Writopia Lab team as an Assistant Instructor. She is currently working toward her master’s in English education at Fordham University. She graduated from Boston College in 2021, where she was the editor of the student newspaper. Before Writopia, Colleen worked as a Writers’ Room Fellow at 826 Boston, where she led the journalism club and worked with students on college essays, academic papers, and creative writing. Colleen has worked as a journalist, writing stories about Boston marathoners, a python on the loose, and the oldest cat in Montgomery County, Maryland. Most recently she produced an episode for Boston Stories and Numbers, an audio documentary project dedicated to telling the stories of Boston residents. Outside of writing, Colleen enjoys baking, hiking, and the beach.

Instructor

Tom Simmermaker is absolutely thrilled to be joining Writopia Lab as an Instructor. Tom earned his B.A. in English at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where he was awarded the Anne Howard Bailey Prize for Creative Writing. After graduation, Tom moved to Chicago to pursue writing and comedy, and he performed weekly at the iO Theater with his Friday night sketch group.

Furthering his love of writing at the University of Chicago Graham School, Tom was recognized in 2017 as a Writer’s Studio Student Prize Nominee. Tom's poetry has been published by Eclectica Magazine, and his film photography has appeared in The Manhattanville Review, Film Shooters Collective, and Film Scouts Anthology Vol. 1.

Now based in Los Angeles, Tom is currently working on a comedy pilot, a book of poetry, and an ever-growing portfolio of collage and video work. He truly could not be more excited to be joining this team! 

Instructor

Ella Goldblum has been a Writopian for almost half her life, and is excited to begin instructing on the Upper West Side this June. She is originally from Washington, D.C., and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in History in December 2023. She spent much of her free time in college working for publications, and enjoys writing and editing most everything, particularly journalistic profiles, poems, comedy, and culture pieces. Otherwise, she likes to swim, go to concerts, and play GeoGuessr, and has a passion for taking pictures of ridiculous advertisements to amuse her friends and family. She has found that working with kids helps to expand her sense of what is interesting and what is possible, and is grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the world from Writopia debaters this summer.

Instructor

Nathaniel Pinkham loves working with writers of all ages at Writopia Lab. He currently attends the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he works as a Graduate Teaching Associate while pursuing his MFA in Prose. Before that, he worked at the Greene Hill School and Plymouth Church School as an Assistant Teacher in early childhood education. His published work can be found in Samjoko Magazine and Honeysuckle Magazine. He is currently working on a novel. 

Instructor

Ivory Butler is delighted to be on the Writopia Lab team! Ivory first discovered her love of writing in elementary school when she was tasked with writing a short story that soon evolved into a 50-page novella, and she has adored writing ever since. Throughout her teenage years, Ivory took workshops at Writopia Lab and won golden keys for her poetry in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. in Creative Writing and Literature and an M.A. in Child and Adolescent Development. Currently, Ivory is represented by Brent Taylor of Triada Literary Agency and her young adult murder mystery novel is on submission to publishers. Her master's thesis on sensory processing disorder and her undergraduate conference paper on mother-infant attachment can be found on Sarah Lawrence College’s Digital Commons. Ivory loves to help young writers feel more confident in themselves and in their writing. She hopes to help young writers at Writopia Lab find joy in the written word.

Instructor

Susan Yassky joined Writopia Lab in 2024. She is a Brooklyn-bred playwright and dramaturg and a member of Youngblood, Ensemble Studio Theatre's OBIE Award-winning collective of early-career writers. Her work has been developed at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Yale University. Her plays include A Variation (EST Bloodworks reading, 2023), The Women’s Center (Bay Area Playwrights Festival semi-finalist, 2022), Little Lines (Goldberg Playwriting Award finalist, 2022), and Myrmarachne (EST/Sloan Commission). She received her MFA in dramatic writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she was given the Chair's Award for Excellence in Dramatic Writing. Susan loves working with the thoughtful, dedicated writers at Writopia Lab!

Assistant Instructor

Sofia Baluyut participated in Writopia Lab workshops as a young writer, worked with brilliant teen writers during Writopia’s 2023 Advanced Writing Seminar, and is thrilled to rejoin the community as an Assistant Instructor! A poet raised in Brooklyn, NY, Sofia also serves as an Assistant Manager at Brooklyn Poets. She is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, where she earned a BA in American Studies with a Writing Certificate and contributed to various publications within the Route 9 Literary Collective. When not writing, you can find Sofia rock climbing, admiring trees, and spending time with her loved ones.

Instructor

María Elisa Schmidt is a Mexican bilingual writer, translator, and educator who holds an MFA in Poetry from The New School. Her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in renowned magazines in Mexico, such as Gatopardo, Tierra Adentro, and Círculo de Poesía, and she was editor-in-chief of C de Cultura, a Mexican magazine, for seven years. She has experience teaching creative writing to kids and has volunteered as a literacy teacher for Read 718 in Bed-Stuy. She interns at Brooklyn Poets, where she helps organize poetry events and craft talks. Her favorite Latin American authors are Jorge Luis Borges, Elena Garro, and Leila Guerriero. One of her biggest dreams is to launch a creative writing school in Mexico City, her beloved hometown!

Instructor

Noah Wilson is thrilled to be joining Writopia Lab in New York City as a writing instructor. He is currently an MFA candidate at Rutgers University-Newark, where he also teaches creative writing and literature classes. His short stories have appeared in Beyond Words, Dreamers Creative Writing Magazine, and the anthology, Ten Ways the Animals Will Save Us, from Retreat West Books, among others. Noah is also a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and music educator. His most recent record, The View from the Ground - EP, is available on all streaming platforms. When not writing, reading, or teaching, Noah enjoys biking along the Hudson River and practicing photography.

Instructor

Carly Polistina is thrilled to be a member of the Writopia Lab team as a creative writing and language play instructor! She is a playwright, screenwriter, stand-up comedian, and actor. Her play Annies and Kleptos premiered at 13th Street Repertory Theatre in 2019, and her play Nosebleed: a “comedy”… had its first full run at The Tank in the summer of 2024. As co-founder of the production company Learning Curve, she has written and produced multiple pilot episodes. “Please Help”, a web series she co-wrote, has gone on to be award-recognized at various film festivals. Polistina has performed stand-up comedy throughout the country and produces her own comedy show on the Upper West Side. She is currently getting her MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Columbia University. 

Instructor

Aiden Kaplan is excited to get to work with Writopia Lab as a Game Leader! Aiden has been playing and running tabletop role-playing games for the past twelve years. He has worked extensively with kids of all ages running games, teaching creative writing, and all sorts of other activities at YMCA Camp Takodah in Richmond, NH. He also volunteers to run games remotely with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Libraries in Charlotte, NC, his hometown. He is a student at American University studying journalism and cinema, and is ecstatic to work with the next generation of great writers and game masters at Writopia.

Instructor

Lael is so excited to be joining Writopia Lab this fall! Lael is a writer, an educator, and a mom to two sweet baby boys. After getting her bachelor’s in Film, Television, and Theater at the University of Notre Dame, Lael spent many years doing stand-up comedy in Chicago. She is a freelance essayist and book lover and was recently published in the print magazine for book lovers Oh Reader. She is pursuing her Master of Education in Secondary English at Iona University.

Lael hopes to bring empathy, warmth, and a sense of humor to all of her workshops so that the writers she works with feel comfortable playing around and discovering their voice.

Instructor

Dana is beyond excited to join Writopia Lab! She graduated from Brown University, where she studied English and wrote a thesis about vampires, gender, and the entertainment industry. Dana writes creative nonfiction, comedy, and poetry, and she dabbles in fiction when she’s feeling adventurous. She’s drawn to offbeat topics related to the supernatural, history, gender, and the environment. Dana has a background in performing improv comedy and has been published in several comedy journals. Outside of writing, Dana likes to draw, run, and swim in cold bodies of water. She loves working with all of the clever, zany, and thoughtful writers in her workshops—it’s delightful!

Instructor

Audrey is a writer and comedian and is ecstatic to work with young writers at Writopia Lab. Originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, Audrey studied Creative Writing and Spanish at the University of Chicago. She has reported long-form features on the effects of the climate crisis in the Peruvian Andes and what healthcare access looks like for LGBTQIA+ undocumented New Yorkers as well as interviewed musicians, comedians, and actors for publications including Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Them. She has been writing essays since she launched a blog as a teen in the early 2010s (the URL is kept under lock and key). She has directed documentaries and in college created a podcast with fellow comedians where they platonically answered the 36 Questions to Fall in Love. Before joining Writopia, Audrey was a fact checker. She still thinks facts are important, and that's on the record.

Instructor

Kara Bilello is thrilled to be joining the team at Writopia Lab as a creative writing and debate instructor! As a Korean-American adoptee and an upstate New York native, she is passionate about writing as a means to connect to one’s most authentic voice. She holds two Bachelor’s of Arts from Binghamton University in English Literature and Creative Writing and Spanish Language and Literature. Additionally, she completed coursework towards a Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in Nonfiction at Columbia University, where she workshopped with Michael Greenberg and studied under writers such as Leslie Jamison, Phillip Lopate, and Maria Venegas. Her essays have been published in The Year Anthology by Crack the Spine, The Rational Creature (a feminist literary arts magazine where she serves as Assistant Prose Editor), The Every Body is Beautiful Project, and Binghamton University’s undergraduate and admissions publications. Kara is currently working on a memoir and essay collection on her cross-cultural identities, intergenerational trauma, and present healing.

Instructor

Gauri is thrilled to be joining Writopia Lab! Born and raised in India, she received her MFA in Creative writing in 2021. She has won fellowships from Yaddo, Hambidge Center, Hedgebrook, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Djerassi Artist Residency, and Sundress Academy for The Arts. Her writing has been published in Best New Poets 2023, Provincetown Arts Magazine, Quarterly West, Notre Dame Review, The Rumpus, Buzzfeed, and others. She is an editor at The Offing and constantly considers ways to incorporate play into her pedagogy.

Game Leader

Leah Ly is just delighted to be starting a new adventure with Writopia Lab as a Game Leader. After graduating from Rowan University with a BA in Radio/Television/Film with a Creative Writing concentration, she has spent a decade professionally entrenched in nerdy and creative spaces. For the past few years, tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) have been her happy place. She is truly the embodiment of the theatre kid to TTRPG enthusiast pipeline. Her passion for character crafting, worldbuilding, and collaborative storytelling combined with her deep commitment to performance has been the cornerstone of her approach to every game. 

Between campaigns, Leah wrote and performed her first original theatrical piece in spring 2023 and has been appearing in independent theatre in the DC metro area ever since. She is so excited to be engaging young people in the power of tabletop gaming with Writopia Lab, where she can create magical moments (and also play all the bad guys).