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T Campbell has been an award-winning comics scriptwriter for nearly a decade, writing over 3000 pages of graphic novels, manga, comic strips and webcomics, both independently and with publishers like Tokyopop and Marvel—including titles such as Fans, Cool Cat Studio, Penny and Aggie, Divalicious, Sketchies, Rip and Teri, Exploding Stills, and other comics.
Classes taught: Cross Word Making, Introduction to Writing Comics, Comic Book Writing.
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Lea Ann Douglas (Annie) is the author of many plays, including Alligator Mansion and The Neophyte. Her plays have been seen in Charlottesville, New York, Los Angeles, and London. Lea Ann has an MFA in playwriting from the University of Virginia and currently teaches English at Old Dominion University. She has also published numerous short stories, essays and a few poems. Her first book of poems, The Queen's Rune and Other Tales of the Sidhe was published in 2009 and she performs her peoms and stories in coffee shops, bars, and speakeasys across the East Coast.
Classes taught: Introduction to Playwriting, Introduction to Storytelling: Writing Myth and Folklore.
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Website: www.cruinnaiu.com.
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Gillian is an instructor of English as a Second Language at Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach, where she teaches all academic language skills but has a particular fondness for the wild complexities of English grammar. Once a world traveler, she now stays mostly in one place and instead enjoys playing host to the world in her classroom, which is sort of like traveling but much less expensive. She holds a B.A. in English from Elon University and a M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Old Dominion University. Oh, and the swooping, winged figure on the Muse homepage? That's Gillian.
Classes taught: Grammar Unveiled, English Grammar.
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Gregory Epps is a freelance journalist and 10-year veteran of weekly film criticism whose work has appeared in a variety of print and web publications. As critic and essayist for PortFolio Weekly, Greg published over 500 reviews, covered local film festivals, and interviewed A-list film directors and actors. Greg subsequently wrote and broadcasted weekly film reviews for Norfolk's public radio affiliate, WHRV-FM, as part of Cathy Lewis's award-winning HearSay program. Greg is currently writing for several freelance clients, has a novel in-progress, and still believes that all of life's riddles are answered, in the movies.
Classes taught: Film Criticism: The Craft and Business.
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Chad Faries has a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from UW-Milwaukee and has taught writing and literature in the United States and Europe. His poetic memoir, The Border Will Be Soon, was the winner of the 2006 Emergency Press book competition which went on to win the 2006 Gran Prix Prize for poetry from the International Academy Orient-Occident in Romania. His memoir, Some Houses, is seeking a commercial publisher. One of The Muse's most popular teachers, Chad recently moved to Savannah, Georgia where he is an Assistant Professor of English.
Classes taught: Photography & Writing Workshop, Memoir Writing Workshop.
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Website: www.afariestale.com.
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Tim Farrington is the author of a number of novels, including The Monk Upstairs, Lizzie's War, the NY Times Notable Book The Monk Downstairs, and Love in All the Wrong Places (as Frank Devlin). His short stories and essays have been published in ZYZZVA, The Sun, and San Francisco Magazine. He lives in Virginia Beach.
Classes taught: The Fiction Studio, Fiction Writing for Teens, Introduction to Fiction Writing, Fiction Workshop 2, Meditation for Writers.
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Alan Flanders has an M.A. in English from Hollins College with an emphasis on Creative Writing, a Ph.D. and an advanced degree in English Local History from Oxford. He has also been a poetry and non-fiction contributor at the Breadloaf Writers Conference, Middlebury College. For the last 25 years he has written a column for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. Flanders also hosted Century, an Emmy award winning public television documentary on Hampton Roads history. His contributions to local and national television productions include serving as naval historian for a live CBS News broadcast worldwide of the JFK, Jr. burial at sea and numerous commentaries on local, regional and national history topics. He has published eight books and numerous articles in American Heritage, Gourmet, and American History Magazine.
Classes taught: Creative Non-Fiction Writing Workshop.
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Barbara Gardner, a native of Germany, loves poetry and people and brings both together at the First Friday Poetry Salon. She feels equally at home in the US and Germany but also enjoyed very much living in the UK and Norway. Barbara has participated in several poetry workshops and hopes to someday publish a collection of her own work. She lives in Norfolk.
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Caroline S. Garrett's first picture book, Sarah's Bead, was published in 2000. Her second, Jeremiah, in 2003. She is the illustrator of a series of "Forest Friends" tales which were published between 2005 and 2007. She earned her MFA in printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, and a second Masters degree in Art Education from Ohio State. She gives workshops in children's picture books, art and spirituality, and mandalas.
Classes taught: Young Writers Creative Workshop: Create your own Children's Picture Book.
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Colin is a published novelist, short-story writer, translator and visual artist from the UK. He has also lived in Marseille, Johannesburg, and Lisbon, and recently moved to downtown Norfolk from New York City. Creative writing is his life, and his love: his second novel, You Choose, is currently under review in Europe, and his most recent project, Swimming on the Edge Of, is awaiting review with agents in the US, upon completion. He is also to translate two recent novels by Irvine Welsh, Crime and If You Like School. You'll Love Work into Portuguese in 2009 and 2010.
Classes taught: Contemplating Your Novel, Fiction Workshop 2: Other Voices, Other Lives, LGBT Memories in Memoir, Completing the Great American Novel, Fiction One-on-One Workshop.
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Lisa Hartz is a co-founder and co-director of The Muse. She earned an MA in English Writing from Hollins College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Miami, where she taught composition and creative writing. At The Muse, Lisa has lead workshops and studios in memoir/creative non-fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared in poet lore, The GW Review, The Dos Passos Review, Bayou, miller's pond and other publications. A freelance writer in history and the arts, Lisa took a sabbatical this fall to work on a poetry collection and spend time with her four boys. She returns to The Muse this spring to lead the Open Studio.
Classes taught: The Fiction Workshop, Open Studio, Memoir/Creative Non-Fiction Writing Workshop, Memoir Writing Workshop, Poetry Writing Workshop, Memoir Writing Studio, An Exploration of the Prose Poem, Exploring Visual Art Through Poetry, Young Writers Creative Workshop: Create your own Children's Picture Book.
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Caitlin Hayes holds an MA in English Literature from the University of New Hampshire and is in her third year of teaching English at Norfolk Academy. Before moving from New England to Virginia, she freelanced for two newspapers, worked in book design, and administered a writing center. She is a student in the MFA program at Old Dominion University, and in the fall, will enter the MFA program at Syracuse University where she will continue working on a collection of short stories.
Classes taught: Introduction to Fiction Writing, The Fiction Workshop.
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Patti Hinson holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University where her collection of personal essays, Pulls Like Gravity, was awarded the Myra Sklarew Prize for Outstanding Thesis. Her prose and poetry have been featured in a variety of venues, literary and otherwise, including past and current photography exhibits at The Mariners’ Museum.
Classes taught: Introduction to Writing Poetry, The Poetry Workshop, Continuing Poetry Workshop, Memoir Workshop: Personal Narratives, Memoir Workshop: Personal Narratives 2, Poetry Workshop for Teen Writers.
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Rick Hite is Professor Emeritus of Theater/Communications at Virginia Wesleyan College. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College (B.A. Spanish), The Johns Hopkins University (M.A. Romance Languages and Literatures), and Michigan State University (Ph.D. Theater/Communications). His theater career as actor, director, producer, translator, and playwright spans more years than he wants to admit. He has published plays, translations, and poetry in the U. S. and Spain and has had works produced both here and abroad.
Classes taught: Introduction to Playwriting.
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Born in New Jersey, Victoria Kelly received her B.A. in English from Harvard and her M.Phil. in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin, where she was a U.S. Mitchell Scholar. She earned her M.F.A. in Fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she worked with writers such as Marilynne Robinson, James Alan McPherson, and Kevin Brockmeier. Her stories have been published in Colorado Review, Fiction, and The Greensboro Review, among others. She currently teaches at Old Dominion University.
Classes taught: Flash Fiction.
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Once one of the world's premier primate behavioral scientists, Michael abandoned his award-winning work with monkeys after a slight incident in the lab for a new career in the entertainment industry. After directing a series of films (each one, inexplicably, in Spanish with German subtitles) and writing a well received coffee table book about hats, he decided to devote his creative energies to writing poetry about outhouses in southeastern West Virginia. Or...
Classes taught: Poetry Writing Workshop, Poetry Workshop 2, Poetry Studio, Intensive Poetry Studio, Introduction to Fiction Writing, The Fiction Workshop, Fiction Workshop 2, Fiction Studio, Intensive Fiction Studio.
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Janine Latus is the award-winning author of If I Am Missing or Dead, a memoir that made both the New York and London Times bestseller lists and which was written scene-by-scene in workshops just like the one she’s teaching at the Muse. She has taught writing across the country, including at the University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin and East Carolina University. She has written for O, the Oprah magazine, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Parents, Attache, American Way and many other magazines and websites. She currently is fishing around for her next book idea.
Classes taught: Writing from Life, Writing from Life for Teens, Freestyle Writing for Young Writers.
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Tracie Liguid is a former producer for HamptonRoads.com and PilotOnline, and has been a columnist for MIX magazine with a focus on Filipino American identity issues. Her work has also appeared in the Virginian-Pilot. She is a member of the Filipino American National Honor Society and was a coordinator and chapter writer for the oral history project, In Our Aunties' Words: The Filipino Spirit of Hampton Roads. She holds a B.A. in English with a concentration in journalism from James Madison University, and has studied at George Mason and Old Dominion Universities. Tracie considers herself a slow but deliberate and avid reader. She fancies herself a total fangirl of, what else, Filipino-American arts and artists. She has been a writer ever since she began reading Archie and Betty & Veronica comics and the Choose Your Own Adventure and Encyclopedia Brown children's book series.
Classes taught: Young Writers Workshop, Writing the Filipino American Experience, Writing in Response to the Filipino American Experience.
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Deb Markham works as an online community producer (online speak for "editor") for HamptonRoads.com and PilotOnline.com, where she manages about 35 community bloggers. She also has built and maintained several Websites in her spare time over the years. She is in the midst of redesigning The Ghent Reader, an online literary magazine founded in 2002. You can follow her and her personal musings via DebMarkham.com.
Classes taught: Blogging Basics for Writers.
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Karla Martin is a teacher, writer and journalist. She is a former producer of radio and television programs at WHRO-TV/WHRV Radio-the PBS/NPR Station in Norfolk and a former news reporter and producer at WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia and WAVY-TV and WVEC-TV in Norfolk. Karla is a graduate of The Ohio State University School of Journalism and a member of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Karla has written articles for several publications. She is the co-author of the children's book Logan's Journey (Dove Foundation Seal, Mom's Choice Awards; Gold Recipient, Book Sense Children's Pick). Karla lives in Chesapeake with her family and is now fulfilling her dream of teaching English. A graduate of the ODU Career Switcher Program, Karla most recently taught middle school Literature and Grammar at Portsmouth Catholic Regional School. When not writing, Karla enjoys the beach, working out, running and is an avid college football fan!
Classes taught: Children's Picture Book Writing Workshop, Young Writers Creative Workshop: Create your own Children's Picture Book.
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Abbie McGee recieved a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Old Dominion University in 1984. She currently teaches English 12 and Advanced Placement Literature and Composition at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach. Her passions include writing, her children, swimming, music, and the Boston Red Sox. Her favorite poets include Marianne Moore, Billy Collins, Byron, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sylvia Plath, among others. "All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath." —F. Scott Fitzgerald
Classes taught: Introduction to Writing Poetry.
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Jim Morrison has flown barrel rolls with the Navy's Blue Angels (he didn't barf), climbed and slept overnight in a 243-foot-tall redwood (he didn't fall), and gone one-on-one with Muhammad Ali (he didn't flinch). His award-winning stories have appeared in Smithsonian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Private Clubs, This Old House, National Wildlife, and numerous others. He has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and has taught numerous seminars on journalism. He is the past president of The American Society of Journalists and Authors, a trade association of 1,300 freelance writers.
Classes taught: Narrative Travel Writing, Business of Writing Seminar.
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Website: www.jmwriter.com.
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Daniel Pearlman Pravda was born in Norfolk and raised in Virginia Beach. He blossomed into an English major at the University of Maryland and did his M.F.A. in poetry at George Mason. His concentration in poetry has seeped into other genres such as fiction and music. His work, published in numerous journals, including The Washington Review, Phoebe, Grasslands Review, Poet's Domain, Beltway, and others, shows attention to small detail from natural to urban settings. He was interviewed on NPR's "With Good Reason" in June 2006 as part of their Virginia Poets series. He has taught English and Creative Writing at Norfolk State University since 1996.
Classes taught: Poetry Writing Workshop, Craft of Poetry.
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Creative Producer, Ken Phillips, has 25 years experience in the film and television industry as well as a successful track record in advertising, marketing, and promotions from New York to Los Angeles.
A graduate of James Madison University with a degree in film, radio, and television, Ken worked in radio and TV for several years as a writer, producer, videographer, editor, and talent. In 1984, Ken co-founded the Comedy Zone, which grew to be one of the largest comedy club circuits in North America as well as a talent agency for colleges and corporations from coast to coast. Aside from marketing, branding, and selling the Comedy Zone franchise and booking talent, Ken also promoted major concerts with top stars including: Jerry Seinfeld, David Copperfield, Sam Kinison, Ron White, Ellen DeGeneras, Carrot Top, Rodney Carrington, Sinbad, Paul Reiser, Drew Carey, Brian Regan, Louie Anderson, Phyllis Diller, Pat Paulson, Gallagher, Rich Hall, Emo Phillips, and many more.
Along with partner Brad Greenberg, Ken took charge of a promising young comedian with the unlikely name of Carrot Top. Under their guidance, Carrot Top went from club performer to national concert act in a very short time. Ken booked Carrot Top on every major comedy TV show in the country including NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno; ABC's Arsenio Hall Show, Regis and Kathy Lee, and America's Super Showcase; A&E's Evening at the Improv and Comedy on the Road; FOX's Comic Strip Live and Sunday Comics; Showtime's Jonathan Winter's Special and Comedy Club Network; and MTV's Half Hour Comedy Show. Ken was instrumental in a Simon & Schuster book deal entitled Junk in a Trunk and produced Carrot Top's first long-form video of his live show, Twist Ties and Duct Tape.
Ken's film and television credits include: Co-Executive Producer for the Trimark Pictures Chairman of the Board; Producer for AM Mayham on the Cartoon Network, Co-Creator, Writer, Producer for So You Think You're Funny a TV pilot sold to Team Entertainment; In My House with Kevin Meaney a pilot sold to GRB Entertainment; and Banana Skins, pilot sold to TVD Productions; and Segment Producer for the Donnie and Marie Show.
Classes taught: Standup Comedy, Standup Comedy 2, Standup Comedy Studio.
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For 10 years, Tom Robotham was the editor-in-chief of Port Folio Weekly—he now works as a freelance writer and serves as an adjunct professor at Old Dominion University. His weekly column, "Editor's Notebook," (available on his website: www.tomrobotham.com) frequently explores spiritual themes. Before moving to Hampton Roads, Tom worked as a freelance writer, book packager and video producer. During this period, he wrote several books on American history and culture and produced a companion volume to the A&E television series Charlton Heston presents the Bible. He holds a B.A. in English from the State University of New York, Plattsburgh and an M.A. in American Studies from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is currently at work on a book about Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Classes taught: The Riches of Everyday Life: A Memoir Workshop, Spiritual Writing Workshop, The Art of the Essay, American Essays: Writing in Response to Norman Rockwell, Literary Nonfiction Workshop, The Language of Love, Nature Writing, Journalism for Teens.
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Website: www.tomrobotham.com, www.thetreehousemagazine.com.
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Kathy Sarosdy received her degree in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis from Old Dominion University in 1985. While in school, she edited the student literary magazine, Dominion Review, for two years. She has worked as an administrative assistant for a plastic surgeon, an editor for an engineering firm, and a teacher for Virginia Beach Public Schools. She currently teaches Advanced Placement English Language and Composition, an analytical writing course, to eleventh graders, and serves as Chair of the English Department at Kellam High School. She subscribes to Emily Dickinson's definition of poetry: "If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry." Her favorite poems include Yeats' "Lapis Lazuli," Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 29," Mary Oliver’s "When Death Comes," and Tony Hoagland's "America."
Classes taught: Introduction to Writing Poetry.
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Jesse Scaccia is the editor of the Hampton Road's alternative news and culture web magazine, 24sevencities.com. His journalism has been published in various periodicals, including The New York Times, The Virginian-Pilot, and The San Diego Union-Tribune. He also developed, pitched, and produced a documentary series for B.E.T.
Classes taught: Writing About Local Culture, Writing Your Personal Narrative, Journalism 101.
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Gregory Schneider has been teaching composition and literature at Old Dominion University for four years, where he received his Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. His latest story, "The Theft of the Magi" was published in The Drill Press's Big Stupid Review last October. His most recent story "Late Stories" was the subject of discussion in Professor Elizabeth Vincelette's "Digging the Past" course at ODU where he spoke as a guest. In 2008, he was invited to speak and provide a workshop for Christopher Newport University's Writer's Conference. He is working exclusively on short fiction.
Classes taught: Short Story Workshop.
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Tim Seibles was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1955. He is the author of several books
of poems including Hurdy-Gurdy; Hammerlock; and, most recently, Buffalo Head Solos. He is a former National Endowment for the Arts fellow and has been a writing fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center in Massachusetts. Seibles also received an Open Voice Award from the 63rd Street Y in New York City. His work has been featured in anthologies such as Manthology; Rainbow Darkness; Evensong; The Autumn House Anthology; and, Under the Rock Umbrella. He has been a workshop leader for Cave Canem and for the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation. Tim is visiting faculty for the University of Southern Maine’s low-residential Stonecoast MFA Program. His home is in Norfolk, Virginia where, as an associate professor of English, he teaches in Old Dominion University’s English Department and MFA in writing program.
Classes taught: Weekend Intensive Poetry Workshop: Remembering to Remember.
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Kip Watson is a Tidewater native who picked up his first movie camera at age 15. In 1984, he attended VCU in Richmond where he earned a B.A. in filmmaking and film history. His senior project was a music video airing on MTV's 120 minutes. Kip worked on many feature films shot regionally and was involved in local television. He studied feature screenwriting at Regent University in the early 90's. From 1999 to 2003, Kip worked in Los Angeles as a script reader for independent producers and as a creative executive. He has written 5 scripts and was a finalist in Paramount Studios' prestigious Chesterfield Screenwriting competition. While in Los Angeles he studied with industry guru Michael Hauge and read hundreds of screenplays for consideration. IFC West (now Film Independent) hired him to cover scripts for their screenwriting and directing labs. Since returning to Norfolk, Kip has produced, shot and appeared in many commercials and infomercials. Currently he freelances as a script doctor and story developer. Kip also recently became licensed by the Darden School of Education to teach elementary school, and hopes to teach the next generation the value of storytelling.
Classes taught: Screenwriting 101, Screenwriting 2, Screenwriting 202, Screenplay Consultation and Coaching, Screenwriting One-on-One
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Mary Westbrook earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Old Dominion University in May 2010. She was a contributor at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in the summer of 2009 and served as the director of Old Dominion University's Writers in Community program from 2009 to 2010. She is working on a collection of short stories.
Classes taught: Introduction to Fiction Writing.
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Before settling in Norfolk with his wife, Roberto Westbrook worked as a photographer in Washington DC and then Buenos Aires, Argentina. His photographs of South America have been exhibited at the American Embassy in Lima, Peru and at the University of Florida. Roberto has been published in National Geographic Traveler, Smithsonian, Time, The New York Times and others.
Classes taught: Learning to See: A Photography Workshop.
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Website: robertowestbrook.com.
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