Month: August 2020

Brandi Spering has a BFA in Creative Writing from Pratt Institute. Her forthcoming book, This I Can Tell You, will be released by Perennial Press, winter 2020. Spering’s work can be also be found in Perennial Press’ anthology, ‘Super/Natural: Art and Fiction for the Future,’ as well as Stardust Magazine, The Odyssey Online, and the Boston Calendar, etc. Spering resides in Philadelphia where she writes, sews and paints.

Kendra Atleework is the recipient of the Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award and was selected for The Best American Essays, edited by Ariel Levy. She received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota and now lives in Bishop, California. 

Hilary Levey Friedman is the author of Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America. She is a sociologist at Brown University, where she has taught a popular course titled “Beauty Pageants in American Society.” She is a leading researcher in pageantry, merging her mother’s past experiences as Miss America 1970 with her interests as a glitz- and glamour-loving sometime pageant judge, and a mentor to Miss America 2018. Friedman also serves as the president of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Women. Her first book, Playing to Win, focused on children’s competitive afterschool activities.

Phil Halton is a Toronto based novelist and screenwriter. Before turning to writing full-time, he worked in conflict zones around the world as an officer in the Canadian Army and as a security consultant. In particular, he has extensive experience in Afghanistan. He is the author of a novel set in Afghanistan, This Shall Be a House of Peace (Dundurn Press, 2019) and a contrarian history, Blood Washing Blood: Afghanistan’s Hundred-Year War (Dundurn Press, 2021). His latest novel, Every Arm Outstretched (Double Dagger Press, 2020), is set in 1978 during the Nicaraguan revolution. He has published stories and articles in such publications as Thing, Ricky’s Backyard and the Canadian Army Journal. He founded Toronto-based literary journal Blood & Bourbon. He holds a Master’s Degree in Defence Studies from Royal Military College of Canada, and a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing from Humber College.

Daniel G. Newman is a national expert on government accountability and money in politics. He is president and co-founder of MapLight, a nonpartisan nonprofit that promotes transparency and political reform, earning a Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism, a James Madison Freedom of Information Award, a Library Journal Best Reference award, and a Webby Award nomination for Best Politics Website. Newman has appeared in hundreds of media outlets, including CNN, CBS, MSNBC, FOX Business, and NPR. He led a ballot measure campaign establishing public funding of elections in Berkeley, California, and was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. Newman received an MA in political psychology from U.C. Berkeley and a BA from Brown, and was a Fellow at the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Teressa Shelton is the author of The Sergeant’s Daughter (She Writes Press, August 11), a memoir reminiscent of The Glass Castle. It follows Teressa and her sisters through a childhood of abuse and torment, aided only by the solace of books, music, and family found outside of their home, until Teressa ultimately escapes to build a better life for herself. She has lived in nine states and three countries. After graduating from Belmont University in Nashville, she embarked on a career in managing medical practices. The Sergeant’s Daughter is her first book. She lives with her family in Springfield, IL.