Elsa Bermúdez
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.
Bianca Turetsky
Director of Programs and the Brooklyn Region
Bianca is thrilled to be working with Writopia Lab as the Director of Programs and the Brooklyn Region. She is the author of The Time-Traveling Fashionista books, a historical fiction series published by Little, Brown and Company. The books have been translated into nine languages. She is also the co-author of the Magic on the Map chapter book series published with Random House Kids. Bianca holds a BA from Tufts University, and a master’s degree from The Harvard Graduate School of Education. She serves on the education committee at the Guggenheim Museum, and was recognized by the Scholastic Awards as an "outstanding educator whose dedication, commitment, and guidance are represented by student work selected for national honors."
Matthew Jellison
Director of Education, WriCampia Co-Director
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.
Sophia Marie Lee
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.
Jane Young
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.
Vanessa Walters
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.
Alison Doherty
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.
Di Jayawickrema
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!
Alice Charlotte Bethke
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!
Paulina Tesnow
Instructor
Paulina Tesnow is passionate about writing and fostering creativity in young people. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College in 2024, where she studied creative nonfiction. Paulina has worked with writers across all age groups, from early elementary school to college. She currently teaches college writing at Mercy University and Pace University. You can find her most recent work published in CrayFishMag.
Carly Polistina
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.
Dana Herrnstadt
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!
Sam Hurwitz
Instructor
Sam is so excited to be joining Writopia Lab as an Instructor! Sam attended weekly Writopia workshops since the age of nine, adoring every moment. In addition to writing poetry and fiction, Sam is also a singer-songwriter and musician, having written over 100 songs since the age of six. He has performed on stages large and small throughout New York City and the Hudson Valley, composed the soundtracks for numerous short films and theater productions, and released 3 albums of original music. Sam graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in Psychology, minoring in Music Composition. Sam is deeply passionate about the power of creative mentorship, having worked as a Teaching Artist for kids who stutter and within the Child Life and Arts Therapy department of a children’s hospital. In his free time, Sam loves listening to music, making fun coffee recipes, and nerding out about Star Wars. He is so happy to be returning to Writopia!
Ashley Parker
Administrative Associate and Assistant Instructor
Ashley started her journey with Writopia Lab in 2024 as a WriCampia camp counselor and is thrilled to be joining workshops this fall at the Park Slope location! After graduating from Florida State University in 2022 with a Bachelors in Editing, Writing, and Media (Magna Cum Laude), Ashley moved to New York City to start her professional writing career. Since then, she has had prose published by Echo Review Literary and a year-long developmental fellowship opportunity with Off-Broadway theatre company Ripple Effect Artists. In addition, she has worked directly with literary management and production companies in LA and NYC to analyze screenplays, teleplays, and stage plays for production opportunities. Ashley is passionate about working with kids in an educational setting, and has been doing so as an English tutor since high school. When she’s not at her nearest coffee shop enjoying an iced latte, you can find Ashley rooting for her beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers and FSU Seminoles football teams on weekends. She is elated to bring her experience and enthusiasm here to Writopia Lab!
Eva Dunsky
Instructor
Eva joined the Writopia lab team in 2022. She has a BA in English and Human Rights from Barnard College and an MFA in Fiction and Literary Translation from Columbia University, where she also taught a section of University Writing for International Students and a multi-genre creative writing course for high schoolers. She now works as a communication fellow at the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute at Baruch College, a multilingual learning specialist in the Writing Center at Fordham University, and a first-year writing instructor at School of Visual Arts. Her fiction has appeared in Joyland, Pigeon Pages, The Los Angeles Review, and Cosmonauts Avenue, among others, and she’s at work on a novel and several translations from Catalan and Spanish into English.
Eva Dunsky
Instructor
Eva joined the Writopia lab team in 2022. She has a BA in English and Human Rights from Barnard College and an MFA in Fiction and Literary Translation from Columbia University, where she also taught a section of University Writing for International Students and a multi-genre creative writing course for high schoolers. She now works as a communication fellow at the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute at Baruch College, a multilingual learning specialist in the Writing Center at Fordham University, and a first-year writing instructor at School of Visual Arts. Her fiction has appeared in Joyland, Pigeon Pages, The Los Angeles Review, and Cosmonauts Avenue, among others, and she’s at work on a novel and several translations from Catalan and Spanish into English.
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