Category Archives: SF Bay Area

Venus Jones is a message mentor and helps emerging sheroes find their signature stories through the power of poetry and the healing arts. She felt abandoned by her own birth mother at the age of two, before a woman named Rose helped her rise. Thanks to the kindness of a stranger, faith in a higherContinue reading “Venus Jones”

Tureeda Mikell a.k.a. Toreadah—Story Medicine Woman, Poet Instructor, Chi Gong Energy Therapist, award-winning poet, educator—is director of Tree of Life Health Literacy Project, published nationally and internationally, published over 60 at risk student anthologies throughout 4 counties in the San Francisco bay area, was Eth-Noh-Tec NU Wa International Storytelling Delegate in Beijing, China, October 2018,Continue reading “Tureeda Mikell”

Dr. Melinda Luisa de Jesús is Chair and Associate Professor of Diversity Studies at California College of the Arts. She writes and teaches about Asian American cultural production, girl culture, monsters, and race/ethnicity in the United States. She will be on sabbatical in 2018-2019. She was recently awarded the 2018-2019 Muriel Gold Senior Visiting Professorship at theContinue reading “Melinda Luisa de Jesús”

MK Chavez is the award-winning author of Mothermorphosis, Dear Animal, Virgin Eyes, and a Brief History Of The Selfie. Chavez has received fellowships from Hedgebrook, CantoMundo, Squaw Valley Writers Workshop, Caldera. VONA, North Street Collective Residence Program, Real Time & Space Elevate Residency, and Napa Valley Writers Workshop. She is co-founder/curator of the reading seriesContinue reading “MK Chavez”

Natasha Dennerstein was born in Melbourne, Australia, to a family originating in Belarus. She worked as a psychiatric nurse for many years, which gave her an interesting perspective on the human condition. Natasha studied creative writing at Whitireia polytechnic in New Zealand and went on to take her Masters in creative writing from the InternationalContinue reading “Natasha Dennerstein”

Thea [thee-uh] Matthews is a poet, author, and educator originally from San Francisco, California. She attained her BA in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley; and studied June Jordan’s program Poetry for the People led by Aya de Leon. Her debut poetry collection Unearth [The Flowers] (Red Light Lit Press, 2020) is listed asContinue reading “Thea Matthews”

Jan Steckel was a Harvard- and Yale-trained pediatrician who took care of Spanish-speaking children until chronic pain persuaded her to change professions to writer, poet and medical editor. She is an activist for bisexual and disability rights who lives in Oakland, California. Her poetry book The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011) won a 2012 LambdaContinue reading “Jan Steckel”

Robert S. Pesich is the editor for Swan Scythe Press and is the author of Model Organism. He also works as a lab manager / research associate for Stanford University School of Medicine and Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research. He is the President of Poetry Center San José and Coordinator for the Well-RED Reading Series,Continue reading “Robert S. Pesich”

Randy James received an MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco. He has also studied at UCLA. His work has been published in Myriad, Westwind, Red Cedar Review, Palette, FEM Newsmagazine and The Rumpus. Randy has performed in venues across Los Angeles and The San Francisco Bay Area. His work was featured in Hayat Hyatt’s “Villanelle,” which has been archivedContinue reading “Randy James”

Mimi Tempestt (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and daughter of California. She has a MA in Literature from Mills College, and is currently a doctoral student in the Creative/Critical PhD in Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Her debut collection of poems, the monumental misrememberings, is published with Co-Conspirator Press (2020). She was chosen asContinue reading “Mimi Tempestt”