Staff and Contributor Bios

Audrey Frischman (Editor in Chief/Staff Writer) 

Audrey is a regular old lady living in Hamilton Heights with her roommates and her iPad. She enjoys running, writing, napping, reading, having important personal emails to send and eating string cheese. She is a graduate of NYU Gallatin where she studied “Adolescence as Displayed in Theater.” You can email her at walkwriteup@gmail.com

Laura Been (Co-Editor/Staff Writer)

Laura, a Florida native and proud FSU alumni, now resides in Manhattan with two fine gentlemen.  She can be found doing yoga in the east village, running along the Hudson, cooking up new recipes in her kitchen (some turning out better than others), reading on her roof, having dance parties with her friends, speed walking down 8th Ave, and working in the production office at the New Victory Theater.  Some of her favorite things include grandpa sweaters, dark chocolate peanut m&ms, cheap airfare, dresses with pockets, and poetry so delightful it makes her toes wiggle

Philip Santos Schaffer (Co-Editor/Staff Writer)

Philip Santos Schaffer is a director and writer living in Sunset Park, NY. He is one half of the production team of WalkUpArts and has directed two shows through WUA so far, with a third opening this month. He can be found at the kitchen table with all his books spread out- much to the chagrin of his roommates. He can be contacted to ask for edits, small favors, and petty acts of revenge at schafferphilip@gmail.com orwalkwriteup@gmail.com.

A.J. Huffman (Contributor)

A.J. Huffman has published eleven solo chapbooks and one joint chapbook through various small presses.  Her new poetry collections, Another Blood Jet (Eldritch Press), A Few Bullets Short of Home (mgv2>publishing), and Butchery of the Innocent (Scars Publications) are now available from their respective publishers.  She has two additional poetry collections forthcoming:  Degeneration (Pink Girl Ink) and A Bizarre Burning of Bees (Transcendent Zero Press).  She is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, a two-time Best of Net nominee, and has published over 2300 poems in various national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, and Kritya.  She is also the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press.  www.kindofahurricanepress.com.

Abbey Jasmine Rose (Contributor)

Abbey Jasmine Rose is an actor, writer, activist, and assisted living facility administrator attending Circle in the Square Theatre School in NYC. She is a member of the Living Theatre and also busies herself with copious amounts of people watching. She loves you, thank you!

Barbara Gurney (Contributor)

Barbara Gurney lives in Perth, Western Australia. She writes across several genres including fiction for adults and children, and free verse poetry. Barley Books by Barb is a literary gift range featuring Barbara’s creative writings including award-winning stories Purple and Wide Brown Land. In November 2013 Jasper Books released Gurney’s first novel Road to Hanging Rock. A London publisher has contracted her second. Ginninderra Press (Port Adelaide) published her poetry books, Footprints of a Stranger, in 2012 and Life’s Shadows in 2015. Barbara is the Secretary of Gosnells Writers Circle and a member of KSP’s Writefree Women’s Group. www.barbaragurney.webs.com

Beverly Offen (Contributor)

Beverly Offen has been published in Still Crazy, Hippocampus, Front Porch Review, Halfway Down the Stairs, Persimmon Tree, and other small magazines. Her husband, Ron Offen, was a writer, a playwright and producer, and a much-published poet. She cared for him during his illness, which began in September 2009 and ended with his death in August 2010. They were together for ten good years.

Bob Zahniser (Contributor)

Bob Zahniser lives on a farm in Yamhill, Oregon with a flock of indolent sheep, three dogs, two goats, two cats, two horses, chickens, innumerable gophers and two other people. His work has appeared in Belleville Park Pages (Paris/London), Perceptions, The Portland Alliance, Byline, Paper Gardens and Skylight 47 (Galway, Ireland).

Brad Hamers (Contributor)

Poet, musician, performance artist, collage artist, mental gymnast.  Originally from New York, currently residing in New York, by way of Portland, Oregon.  Brad has had 3 books of poetry published and 11 musical projects released over the past 15 years, both as a solo artist and as a member of the groups: Phlegm, Two Ton Sloth, and Dust On Snow.  Brad is currently an actor with The Living Theatre.  He is an active member of The New Police Collective, a believer in magic, a practitioner of art as therapy, art as revolution.  More of Brad’s work can be found at:https://www.flickr.com/deadphlegm  ,  http://bradhamers.bandcamp.com/  ,www.thenewpolice.blogspot.com  &  www.bradhamers.com

Briana Pozner (Contributor)

Briana Pozner is an actor/writer currently currently residing in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting, bike riding, hip hop dancing and board games. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and is the co-writer of the pilot “Grow(n) Up.”

Bud Smith (Contributor)

Bud Smith lives in Washington Heights, NYC. His books are the novels Tollbooth (2013) and F-250 (2014), both published by Piscataway House; the poetry collection Everything Neon (2014, Marginalia). His writing has recently appeared at SmokeLong, Metazan, and decomP. He works heavy construction in New Jersey, and hosts the Unknown Show.www.budsmithwrites.com

Casey FitzSimons (Contributor)

Casey FitzSimons has published 12 chapbooks, most recently The Sharp Edges of Knowing (2015), and has won first place prizes from Mendocino Coast Writers Conference and Ina Coolbrith Circle, and second place prizes from Soul-making Keats Sonnet Competition and (SF) Bay Area Poets Coalition. Casey taught art in San Francisco for many years. Her reviews of Bay Area exhibitions frequently appeared in Artweek, and her studio drawing book,Serious Drawing, was published by Prentice Hall. She has a master’s degree in fine arts from San Jose State University. She used to play guitar on the edge of her bed, now plays drums in the kitchen.

Celina Bonifacio (Contributor)

Celina Bonifacio grew up in Syracuse, NY and graduated from Buffalo State in 2014 with a B.A. in Public Communications and Creative Writing. She lives in NYC and pays the bills by writing and hanging out on social media from 9 to 5(ish). In her spare time, you can find her wandering around aimlessly, scribbling something down in a notebook, playing the ukulele, or obsessing over a TV show. She can be reached at bonifaciocelina@gmail.com.

Chella Courington (Contributor)

Reared in southern Appalachia, Chella now lives in California with another writer and two ginger cats. She teaches, writes, reads and walks miles on the beach. Some favorites: lemon meringue pie, soft ice cream, Toni Morrison, Lydia Davis, James Dickey, Ben Lerner, lace-up boots, long sweaters, & leggings.

Chelsea Whitehead (Contributor)

Chelsea Whitehead is an actor, writer, and arts n’ crafter. While enjoying her fourth year in the big city, she pines for the Chilis, Cracker Barrels, and Sonics of home. She makes her mother proud by taking her vitamins regularly and making her bed daily. She can be contacted at chelsea.e.whitehead@gmail.com

C.M. Baker (Contributor)

Dan Frischman (Contributor)

Dan Frischman is an actor/director/writer/playwright/screenwriter/novelist/magician/ventriloquist
/juggler/singer/uncle/brother/nephew/friend/trombonist/lyricist/foodie/playgoer/comedian/improviser/person/male/being/lover/
exerciser/gambler/pet-lover/hermit/bachelor/ heterosexual and antique phonograph collector.  His website is www.danfrischman.com, if you must have more.

Dean Kritikos (Contributor)

Dean Kritikos is a grad student studying English in scenic Queens, where he’s lived his whole life. he loves working in Writing Centers and sometimes construction. When he’s not working, though, he’s reading or writing poetry. As to when/if exactly he sleeps or breathes, scientific studies have been inconclusive. You can find him in Crack the Spine and, soon, NYSAI magazine. He’s also performed with/for The Epic XII, The Inspired Word, Great Weather for MEDIA, and Poetry Teachers NYC.

Delaney Russell (Contributor)

Delaney Russell is a current student at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she is a prospective English and International Affairs double major. She likes writing poetry, watching whatever’s on HGTV, shrimp tempura, jean jackets, and hard rap music. Her parents are very proud of her. She can be reached at drussell@skidmore.edu.

Desiree Feliciano (Illustrator)

I was mistakenly born in the quiet and forgettable depths of New Jersey. I am a fine artist engaged in several mediums including illustration, drawing, painting, textiles, photography, videography, and others. I find the most joy in experimenting with new mediums. I am also an avid anime fan, radical intersectional feminist, and socialist. I love reading comics, too.

I also run a music blog where I interview and photograph musicians/bands and review music while watching The Office. Check it out at 69beatsperminute.tumblr.com.

devin donovan (contributor)

devin donovan lives in Charlottesville, VA where he teaches writing and does small plumbing jobs on the side. His work has recently appeared in Talking Writing, Black Heart Magazine, WORK, and The Gap-Toothed Madness. He received his PhD in English from Lehigh University where he ran the Drown Writers Series for a good while.

Dora Marin (Illustrator/Illustration Coordinator)

Dora Marin is an avid traveler, yogi, runner, cook, visual artist and all around can’t-make-up-her-minder. Her goal with her visual art is to move and inspire people toward higher awareness and social change. Although her twenties have thus far been a perpetual stage of ‘figuring shit out’ she hopes to blend her love of art, health, and connection to others into a flourishing career in the near future. Keep it sassy Brooklyn.

Ember Knight (Contributor)

Ember Knight was born in a barn in Topanga Canyon, California. After graduating from the LA County High School for the Arts, Ember spent two years conducting ethnographical fieldwork and narrative analysis on aspiring stand-up comedians. It (quote) “was weird”. Just kidding, I’m writing this myself, in the third person. Hi! Shh. Ember now lives mostly in Los Angeles, performing as a JB Smoove impersonator and writing short stories. She is available for parties and events.

eric dolan (Contributor)

I am Eric, and you are kind enough to have stumbled across this bio. All of my words are scattered throughoutericericdolan.tumblr.com which is a portal, of sorts, into my brain and notebook(s). I graduated from college and am currently navigating the seas of adulthood from my little apartment in jersey, armed with wine, wit, and a nearly dead pen. Thank you for taking the time to visit this page.

Eric Pautz (Contributor)

Halima Rae Scott (Contributor)

I am Halima Rae. I surround myself with positive people in which I can learn from grow from and laugh with. I love to create and express myself freely through several art forms. I pride myself on positivity, love, and open minded approach. I live in LA and I’m always trying to get away…to the greener fresher slower passed rural havens. I love camping and being within the land untouched by man. Halimarae@hotmail.com

Heather Newberger (Contributor)

Heather Newberger is a freelance fashion stylist + creative consultant living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. For four years, she studied cinema + photography at Ithaca College in Upstate New York, where she graduated cum laude and developed her obsessions with memory and American rhetoric. A 2016 New York City Fashion Fellow and 2010 official selection of MILK Underground, Newberger has exhibited creative work in Ithaca, NY, Philadelphia, PA & New York City.

She keeps a blog @ www.over-t.tumblr.com

Isabel Wolfe Frischman (Contributor)

Jack Philips Lowe (Contributor)

Jack Phillips Lowe is a lifelong resident of Chicago, Illinois. He has contributed poems to Clark Street Review, Nerve Cowboy and the Bitchin’ Kitsch, among other outlets. His chapbooks include So Much for Paradise (MuscleHead Press, 2000), Pariah Tales(Onzo Imprints, 2007) and Cold Case Cowboys (Middle Island Press, 2013). At least one night a week since age 12, Lowe has gone out in his backyard, stared up at the planet Mars and hoped to be transported there, via astral projection, like John Carter in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars. Lowe hasn’t achieved that yet, but he keeps trying.

Janelle Rainer (Contributor)

Janelle Rainer is a poet, painter and teacher living in the Pacific Northwest. Janelle worked as a soda fountain waitress, peach orchard laborer, and shoe salesman before earning her B.A. in English from Whitworth University, followed by her M.F.A. in Poetry from Pacific University. Janelle’s poetry has been published in numerous journals, including Harpur Palate and The Louisville Review, and her paintings have been featured in venues in and around Spokane, Washington. Her debut poetry collection, Two Cups of Tomatoes, was released in October 2015.

Jeffrey Zable (Contributor)

Jeffrey Zable is a teacher and percussionist who plays Afro-Cuban folkloric music for dance classes and Rumbas around the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s published five chapbooks including Zable’s Fables with an introduction by the late, great Beat poet Harold Norse. Present or upcoming writing in Clarion, Coe Review, Chrome Baby, Chaos Poetry Review (featured poet), Ishaan Literary Review, Snapping Twig, Snow Monkey, Kentucky Review, Owen Wister Review and many others.

Jenny Morris (Contributor)

Jenny is psyched to submit to WalkWriteUp exactly on (and sometimes a bit past) the deadline each month. Formerly of the Sunshine State, she currently resides in Brooklyn with her scoundrel of a pup, Zac. She enjoys the reading of books, the watching of television, participating in dance parties, and has recently taken up knitting to ease her transition into adulthood. She works in development for the National Theatre. You can usually find her with a Coke in hand dissecting the latest episode of Doctor Who. Feel free to reach her at jennymorris01@gmail.com or 867-5309.

Joan Leotta (Contributor)

Author, Story Performer
“Encouraging words through Pen and Performance”
Giulia Goes to War, Letters from Korea, A Bowl of Rice, Secrets of the Heart.
now available from Desert Breeze Publishing and Amazon
Simply a Smile–collection of Short Stories
from Cane Hollow Press and Amazon
WHOOSH! Picture book from TheaQ and Amazon
www.joanleotta.wordpress.com
910-575-0618

John Berbrich (Contributor)

Born & raised on Long Island, John Berbrich now lives way upstate in Russell, New York, on the far side of the Adirondack Mountains.  He’s the editor of Barbaric Yawp magazine, a poetry & prose quarterly.  He’s also a radio DJ on the Howie & the Wolfman show (he’s the Wolfman), located at 91.1 on your FM dial, or online @radio.clarkson.edu, Saturday mornings @ 11:00.  John’s camera is broken, but you should know that he wears a cool beard.  Just for fun, e-mail John ataraxia1114@aim.com.  Check out www.boneworldpublishing.com for info on the Yawp.  Right now he’s drinking a foamy ale in honor of Walk Write Up.

John Dorroh (Contributor)

John Dorroh (JD) is a high school science teacher by vocation, a professional procrastinator, and a regionally-acclaimed racquetball player. He creates dishes for friends and dogs who are unfortunate enough to gobble what falls to the floor.

Kathy McGuire (Contributor)

Kathy works as a legislative policy analyst and editor in Florida, where anything is possible.  She longs to visit all the destinations posted in the International Terminal, but in the meantime escapes via mysteries.

Katie Diamond (Illustrator)

kd diamond is a short bear-like creature who resides in NYC. She can often be found doodling pictures of people in various sex positions, or attempting to read her book for long enough before she falls asleep. diamond has illustrated 11 books thus far in her young life and is currently toiling away on the 12th, a fully-illustrated and designed book about girls* who like to have sex with other girls**.

(*although she thinks you will probably like the book whether you are a girl or not.
**after all these skills are transferrable, right?)
Her art and contact info live at katiediamond.com.

Karen Greenbaum-Maya (Contributor)

Karen Greenbaum-Maya, retired clinical psychologist, German major, occasional photographer, and two-time Pushcart nominee, is old enough to be your grandmother. She has passed for local in Portland OR, NYC, and Paris (France), but is one of the rare California natives. Besides doing psychotherapy and training doctoral interns, she has written restaurant reviews, managed a Congressional campaign, translated biology articles, and sold killer cookie recipes to businesses. Kattywompus Press publishes her two chapbooks, Burrowing Song (2013) and Eggs Satori (2014). Links to her poems and photos online can be found at  http://www.cloudslikemountains.blogspot.com/

Laura Wolfe (Contributor)

Laura is an artist living in Vermont.  She spends her spare time gardening, cooking, and caring for her dogs and cats.  She loves her large extended human family as well.  She can be reached at laurawolfe706@gmail.com

Matt Bray (Contributor)

Matt Bray is always polite to his elders and rarely late. An aspiring recreational Scrabble competitor, he spends most of his time trying to get guitars to do weird things they’ve never done before. Would you buy a T-shirt that said, “Cornography… Wanna husk?”  If so, he’s starting a new business venture: www.cornytshirts.com.  Until then, you’re stuck with his current one, www.mattbraymusic.com.

Maricela Guardado (Contributor)

The Invisible Phiji is also known as Maricela Guardado, an actress and writer living in Los Angeles, CA. She doesn’t mind bad days because they end with some much deserved tacos from her beloved neighborhood taco truck, and she loves good days because, they too, end with some much deserved tacos from her beloved neighborhood taco truck. She enjoys taking her Abuelita out to coffee, chillin’ with her dog, and driving her car. She is currently attending Occidental College pursuing a double major in Latin American Studies and Theater. You can email her at maricela.guardado@gmail.com!

Marie Kilroy (Contributor)

Marie Kilroy has recently been published in the Silver Birch Press, Loveliest Magazine and the Lummox Press. She never puts laundry away. She’s always looking for a good time Charlie. She graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a B.A. in English and lives in New York City.

Matt Perry (Contributor)

Matt Perry is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and currently lives in Cambridge Massachusetts with his roommates Chris and Joe. He enjoys reading, baseball, and going to the Charlestown Whole Foods for cheese samples. He can be reached at msperry8@gmail.com with any questions or concerns, or if you’d like to start a band.

Michael Coolen (Contributor)

Naomi Dubin (Contributor)
Naomi Dubin is a former New York City arts educator and administrator who recently jumped coasts to California, where she is working towards becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist. She enjoys thinking about words, writing words, making music, running, and drinking coffee.

Natalie N. Caro (Contributor)

Natalie N. Caro is a Bronx-born poet and a 2015 Pushcart Prize Nominee. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and Philosophy from Lehman College/CUNY where she currently teaches composition and an MFA in Poetry from City College/CUNY where she was selected as one of the first recipients of the Creative Writing Fellowship. She thinks about colonization of the mind way more than she should.

Philip Jacob Glauberzon (Contributor)

Phil is a songwriter, musician, artist, and recording engineer living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn by way of Louisville, Kentucky.  He helms a solo project called Psychic Lines and is the proud new owner of a Veggeti, which he uses to transform ordinary vegetables into fake pasta.  Try www.hellopsychiclines.comor contact him at philipjacobglauberzon@gmail.com.

Rachel Sandler (Contributor)

Rachel is a queer communard living at Twin Oaks Community in rural Virginia. Rachel sells organic seeds, weaves hammocks, takes care of babies, teaches kids to make cool stuff, helps grow food for a hundred people, and does lots and lots of shoveling. Rachel also makes fancy crafty items for the community’s etsy site.https://www.etsy.com/shop/TwinOaksCommunity E-mail: rachel@twinoaks.org

Richard King Perkins II (Contributor)

Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He lives in Crystal Lake, IL, USA with his wife, Vickie and daughter, Sage. He is a three-time Pushcart nominee and a Best of the Net nominee whose work has appeared in more than a thousand publications- most of which are now defunct.

Ruth Sabath Rosenthal (Contributor)

RUTH SABATH ROSENTHAL is a New York poet, well published in the U.S., and internationally. Her poem “on yet another birthday” was nominated for a Pushcart prize. Ruth has authored five books of poetry: “Facing Home (a chapbook) — “Facing Home and beyond” — “little, but by no means small” “Food: Nature vs Nurture”  and “Gone, but Not Easily Forgotten — all available from Amazon. Please feel free to visit Ruth’s website: www.newyorkcitypoet.com

Thomas Elson (Contributor)

Thomas lives in Northern California. He writes of lives that fall with neither safe person nor safety net to catch them. His short stories have appeared in the Clackamas Literary Review, The Literary Commune, Perceptions Magazine, Potluck, Cacti Fur, the FTB Press Anthology, and The Pennsylvania Literary Journal.

Tiare Snow (Contributor)

Tiare is a Human. So she drinks wine, takes naps and writes to fill the voids of her human infrastructure. Oh, and she’s an Aussie!

Tracey Roth (Contributor)

Tracey is a recent New York transplant from The Bay Area. She is excited to live in Williamsburg and is making sure not to become too hip. Tracey studied Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and is a facilitator of GenSex NYC, a community-based workshop about topics related to gender and sexuality. Tracey is especially excited to bring her lifelong passion for correcting people’s grammar and spelling to Walk Write Up, and to write occasionally about various queer things.