麻豆视频

Mary Leoson, Director

Dr. Mary Leoson is a Lecturer at 麻豆视频 and the author of YA novel The Butterfly Circle () and short story collection Devil’s Oak: Waking the Feminine Wound (). She is also a Pushcart Nominee, Senior Editor at the Journal of Creative Writing Studies, Member of the Horror Writers Association, and Co-Host of Horror Writing Podcast . Her short fiction can be found in anthologies and literary magazines such as Coffin Bell Journal. When she鈥檚 not teaching or writing about ghosts, you will likely find her in the garden or on the couch with her husband and two very spoiled dogs. You can learn more at . 

Amie Whittemore, Program Advisor

Amie Whittemore served as MTSU Write Director from 2021-2024 and continues serving the program as an advisor. She is the author of three poetry collections, most recently Nest of Matches (Autumn House Press). She was the 2020-2021 Poet Laureate of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and  In addition to serving as Program Advisor, Amie runs a weekly poetry group.

Kory Wells, Community Liaison – Murfreesboro

Kory Wells has been a poetry mentor with MTSU Write since 2010. In addition to her role as mentor, she serves as Community Liaison, supporting MTSU Write’s outreach to Middle Tennessee and beyond. A former software developer who now nurtures connection and community through the arts and advocacy, Kory founded and co-manages and in 2017 was selected the inaugural poet laureate of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Learn more about her at https://korywells.com.

Angela Hamilton, Community Liaison – Memphis

Angela Hamilton holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Memphis and a Master’s in General Education from St. Lawrence University. She is a fiction writer, educator, and curriculum developer with ten years of classroom experience working with middle and high school students. In addition to being Community Liaison (Memphis), Angela runs the weekly fiction writers group.

Lindsey Landrum, English Major & Communications Minor

Lindsey is an English major and Communications minor at MTSU. She has a passion for writing and learning, especially when she can connect it to her faith. She works closely with SHIFT Literary Magazine and aims to do what she can to aid others in their writing journeys. In the future, she wants to pursue a career in writing Christian literature and Bible studies.

Katelyn Watson, English Graduate Student

Katelyn is an English Major at MTSU currently getting her Master’s degree and an intern for MTSU Write. She has a deep love for reading and writing that oftentimes leads her to fighting off fiery dragons and exploring the hidden depths of castles. Her imagination is vast but her passion to help others fulfill their dreams and goals is a persistent force she is determined to honor. When she isn’t reading or writing, she is busy geeking out over kdramas, anime, and any other fantasy world she can get her hands on.

Sofia Leggett, English Graduate Student

Bio coming soon!

Miranda Lucas, English Major

Bio coming soon!

Lalonie McCarter, English Graduate Student

Bio coming soon!

Fred Arroyo: Fiction & Nonfiction

Fred Arroyo is the author of听Alba and Other Songs, winner of the 3rd Gunpowder Press Alta California Chapbook Prize, published in a bilingual edition (2024). His听Sown in Earth:听Essays of Memory and Belonging听was shortlisted for 2021-2022 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. He is also theauthor of听Western Avenue and Other Fictions听(also shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize), and听The Region听of Lost Names鈥攁ll three of these titles with the University of Arizona Press. His writing hasappeared in the anthologies听Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of听Latina and Latino Writing听and听The Colors of Nature: Essays on Culture, Identity and the听Natural World. Fred鈥檚听Emigrant Creek and Other Songs听(poems) will appear with Letras Latinas / Red Hen Press Collaborative in 2027. He鈥檚 also working on a collectionof short fictions,听The Book of Manuels. Fred was awarded听the 2025听Distinguished Senior Career Creative Activity Award听(MTSU Foundation).

Mary Leoson: Fiction (Specialization in Literary Horror)

Dr. Mary Leoson is the author of of YA novel The Butterfly Circle () and short story collection Devil’s Oak: Waking the Feminine Wound (). She is a Puschcart and Shirley Jackson Award nominee. She directs MTSU Write and serves as a Lecturer in the English Department at MTSU. She lives in Smithville, TN with her husband and two very spoiled dogs. When she’s not writing or teaching, you can find her in the garden. You can learn more at

Daniel Abbott: Fiction & Nonfiction

Daniel Abbott is an author, speaker, and educator from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the co-author of Wounds, a collaborative memoir written with Razel Jones, about the triumphs and the pains experienced on their collective journey toward cross-cultural navigation. Daniel has a BA in Writing from Grand Valley State University and an MFA in Fiction from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. His short fiction has appeared in Lit Hub, the Noctua Review, the Ginosko Literary journal, and the Owen Wister Review. He is currently working on a project called Dancing Skeletons, an epic community saga set in his hometown of Grand Rapids. Daniel lives and writes in the Greater Nashville, Tennessee area. You can learn more at 

Charlotte Rains Dixon: Fiction & Blogging

Charlotte Rains Dixon is freelance journalist, copywriter, ghostwriter, and author who also teaches and coaches writers. She is the author of a dozen books, including a book on fund-raising to be published by Atlantic Publishing, and Oregon Coast, for Beautiful American Publishing. Her fiction has appeared in The Trunk, Santa Fe Writer’s Project, Nameless Grace, and Somerset Studios. Her articles have been published in Vogue Knitting, the Oregonian, and Pology, to name a few. She is currently seeking an agent for her novel, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior. Visit her blog at .

Linda Busby Parker: Fiction

Linda Busby Parker is the author of two novels: Seven Laurels, a literary novel, and Oliver鈥檚 Song, mainstream commercial fiction. Seven Laurels won the James Jones First Novel Award and the Langum Prize for Historical Fiction. Linda鈥檚 short pieces have been published in Writer鈥檚 Digest, The Writer, Big Muddy, Provincetown Arts, Oracle, Confluence and most recently in Minerva Rising.  Her book reviews have appeared in The San Diego Union Tribune, The Mobile Press Register, 2nd and Church (a magazine for writers), First Draft, and Alabama Writers Forum. She has served as a Tennessee Williams Scholar in Fiction at the Sewanee Writers Conference and as a Fellow in Fiction at Bread Loaf. Linda is also publisher and editor-in-chief of a small independent press, Excalibur Press, which publishes literary and upmarket fiction.

Afabwaje Kurian: Fiction

Afabwaje Kurian is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is currently at work on her debut novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Callaloo, Crazyhorse, Nat. Brut, Joyland, The Bare Life Review, and 惭肠厂飞别别苍别测鈥檚. She has received residencies from Ucross, Vermont Studio Center, and Ragdale and has taught creative writing at the University of Iowa and for the International Writing Program.

Terry Price: Fiction

Terry Price, is a writer with an MFA in writing from Spalding School of Creative and Professional Writing. He leads workshops and retreats on creativity, writing, photography, and is hosting a new podcast titled The Creative Playground. Terry鈥檚 work has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and he has an essay in the anthology, Wisdom From Others: Life Lessons From Loss published in November, 2019. Learn more about Terry and his work at .

Jennifer Chesak: Fiction & Nonfiction

Jennifer Chesak is the author of the book  (Ulysses Press, distributed by Simon & Schuster, June 2023). She is a Nashville-based freelance journalist, editor, fact-checker, and adjunct professor with almost two decades of experience and a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill. Her byline appears in several national publications, including the Washington Post.

Karen Alea Ford: Fiction & Nonfiction 

Karen Alea Ford has her MFA from Bennington College, is an alumna of Sewanee Writers鈥� Conference, a Fellow at Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and the former director of MTSU Write. Her short stories have been published in literary magazines including Eureka, Stickman Review, Riverwalk Journal and the anthology, Catch Fire in the Treetops. Her short story 鈥淭he Next Guy鈥� won The Nashville Scene fiction contest judged by Ann Patchett, which led to a guest column in the publication. She has written nonfiction for About.com, Huffington Post, The Establishment, Narratively and others. She lives in Franklin where she is owned by her dogs.

Gloria Ballard: Nonfiction (Memoirs & Essays)

Gloria Ballard is a native of Nashville, where she was a writer and editor at The Tennessean before leaving the newspaper business to become a freelance writer. Gloria led creative writing classes and workshops at Watkins Community Education for ten years. She also writes fiction, and was a 2004 participant at Sewanee Writers Conference. She has written garden, health & wellness and general web content, and provided copyediting services for a variety of media outlets. She currently works as a freelance editor and copy editor, has finished a novel, and as an amateur genealogist, is currently working on a family memoir. She has been an MTSU Write mentor since 2010.

Eliana Ramage: Fiction

Eliana Ramage is a Cherokee Nation citizen born and raised in Nashville. She received her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2018, and holds an MA in creative writing from Bar-Ilan University and a BA in English literature from Dartmouth College. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Beloit Fiction Journal, The Baltimore Review, CRAFT, and the anthologies All the Women in My Family Sing, Re(Sisters), and The Masters Review. She is at work on her first novel.

Lee Matalone: Fiction, Nonfiction, & Hybrid Genres

Lee Matalone is the author of the novel, HOME MAKING (Harper Perennial 2020). She has work in The Offing, Denver Quarterly, Lit Hub, Cheap Pop, Hobart, The Rumpus and other publications. She lives in New Orleans.

Kory Wells: Poetry

Kory Wells is the author of Sugar Fix, poetry from Terrapin Books. Her writing has been featured on The Slowdown podcast and appears in The Strategic Poet, The Southern Poetry Anthology, James Dickey Review, Ruminate, and elsewhere. A former software developer who now nurtures connection and community through the arts and advocacy, Kory founded and co-manages Poetry in the Boro and in 2017 was selected the inaugural poet laureate of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Learn more about her at https://korywells.com.

Bryanna Licciardi: Poetry

Bryanna Licciardi is a writer and educator in middle Tennessee. She is a degree collector of sorts, with a BA in English, an MFA in Poetry, and a doctorate in Education. She works as an English lecturer at MTSU. She’s the author of poetry chapbook  (Finishing Line Press, 2017) and full-length poetry collection  (Alternating Current Press, 2024). Her literary works have also appeared in such publications as BlazeVox, Cleaver Magazine, Poetry Quarterly, Red Flag Poetry, and The Adirondack Review. For more, go to .

Jeff Hardin: Poetry

Jeff Hardin is the author of six books, most recently No Other Kind of World and A Clearing Space in the Middle of Being. Recipient of the Nicholas Roerich Prize, the Donald Justice Prize, and the X. J. Kennedy Prize, his work appears in The Southern Review, Hudson Review, Poetry Northwest, and elsewhere.

Marcus Jackson: Poetry

Marcus Jackson earned a BA from the University of Toledo and continued his poetry studies at NYU and as a Cave Canem fellow. His poems have appeared in such publications as The American Poetry Review, The New Yorker, and Tin House. His first collection of poetry, Neighborhood Register, was published in 2011, and his second book of poems, entitled Pardon My Heart (Northwestern University Press/TriQuarterly Books), was recently released. Of Pardon My Heart,The New York Times writes, 鈥淛ackson’s collection confirms the arrival of a thrilling new voice in American poetry, one whose writing, on page after page, has the fullness and glow of a jubilee.” Jackson lives with his wife and child in Columbus, Ohio, and he teaches in the MFA programs at Ohio State and Queens University of Charlotte.

Allison Blevins: Poetry & Nonfiction

Allison Blevins is a queer disabled writer and the author of Cataloguing Pain (YesYes Books, 2023), Handbook for the Newly Disabled, A Lyric Memoir (BlazeVox, 2022) and Slowly/Suddenly (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2021). She is also the author of four chapbooks. Allison is the Director of Small Harbor Publishing and the Executive Editor at the museum of americana. She lives in MN with her husband and three children.

Lee Matalone: Fiction, Nonfiction, & Hybrid Genres

Lee Matalone is the author of the novel, HOME MAKING (Harper Perennial 2020). She has work in The Offing, Denver Quarterly, Lit Hub, Cheap Pop, Hobart, The Rumpus and other publications. She lives in New Orleans.

Carlina Duan: Poetry

Carlina Duan is a writer-educator from Michigan, and the author of the poetry collections I Wore My Blackest Hair (Little A, 2017) and Alien Miss (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 2021). Carlina鈥檚 poems have appeared in POETRY Magazine, Narrative Magazine, Poets.org, and other publications. She received her M.F.A. in Poetry from Vanderbilt University. She loves rivers.

Sally Rosen Kindred: Poetry

Sally Rosen Kindred鈥檚 third poetry collection is Where the Wolf, winner of the 2020 Diode Book Prize and longlisted for the 2021 Julie Suk Award. She is also the author of No Eden, Book of Asters, and three chapbooks. Her poems have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Shenandoah, The Massachusetts Review, poets.org, Kenyon Review Online, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from The University of Maryland. For more information, visit www.sallyrosenkindred.com.

Denton Loving: Poetry

Denton Loving is the author of the poetry collections Crimes Against Birds and Tamp (forthcoming April 2023 from Mercer University Press). He earned the Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Literature from Bennington College. He is a co-founder and editor at EastOver Press and its literary journal Cutleaf. His writing has appeared in numerous publications including Iron Horse Literary Review, Kenyon Review, Tupelo Quarterly, The Chattahoochee Review, Harvard Divinity Bulletin and The Threepenny Review.

Kerri French: Poetry

Kerri French is the author of Every Room in the Body (Moon City Press, 2017) winner of the 2016 Moon City Poetry Award and the North Carolina Poetry Society鈥檚 Brockman-Campbell Book Award. Her poetry has appeared in Washington Square Review, BOAAT, Copper Nickel, The Los Angeles Review, Mid-American Review, Barrow Street, and Nashville Review, among others. She received her MFA in Poetry from UNC-Greensboro and also holds degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill, Boston University, and 麻豆视频. She lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee and teaches at the University of Memphis.  

Andrea Jurjevi膰: Poetry & Poetry in Translation

Andrea Jurjevi膰 is a Croatian poet, writer and literary translator. Her poetry collections include In Another Country (2022 Saturnalia Books Prize), Small Crimes (2015 Philip Levine Prize) and Nightcall (ACME Poem Company Surrealist Series 2021). Her book-length translations from Croatian include Olja Savi膷evi膰鈥檚 Mamasafari (Di谩logos Press, 2018) and Marko Poga膷ar鈥檚 Dead Letter Office (The Word Works, 2020), which was shortlisted for the 2021 National Translation Award in Poetry. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Susan O’Dell Underwood: Poetry & Fiction

Susan O’Dell Underwood’s most recent collection of poetry is Splinter (Madville 2023), which concerns the Appalachian diaspora. Her novel Genesis Road won the Tennessee Arts Commission Grant for Prose. Her work appears and is forthcoming in a variety of journals and anthologies, including The EcoPoetry Anthology (Trinity University Press), Alaska Quarterly Review, and Southern Poetry Anthology: Tennessee. She taught creative writing and literature courses at Carson-Newman University until her recent retirement.

Candie Moonshower: YA & MG Literature & Adult Romance

Candie Moonshower is the author of the award-winning middle grade novel, The Legend of Zoey, and also writes young adult fiction and adult romances. She is a Senior Instructor of English at MTSU. Moonshower holds BA degrees in English and Philosophy, an MA in English Literature, and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. She is happily married, lives in a log home, and she and her husband are managed by two cats, Marzipan Bing Crosby and Pepper Ann.

Katie A. Nelson: Children’s, YA, & MG Literature

Katie A. Nelson is the author of the young adult novel, The Duke of Bannerman Prep, and also writes middle grade novels as well as picture books. She holds a BA in English from Brigham Young University, and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Originally from California, Katie lives outside of Nashville with her husband, four kids, and two very spoiled dogs.

Meg Eden Kuyatt: Middle Grade Literature

Meg Eden Kuyatt is a 2020 Pitch Wars mentee, and teaches creative writing at Anne Arundel Community College. She is the author of the 2021 Towson Prize for Literature winning poetry collection Drowning in the Floating World (Press 53, 2020) and children鈥檚 novels, most recently Selah鈥檚 Guide to Normal (Scholastic, 2023). Find her online at www.megedenbooks.com or on Twitter at @ConfusedNarwhal and Instagram at @meden_author.

Mary Donnet Johnson: Screen & Stagewriting

Mary Donnet Johnson (playwright, she/her/hers) has been fortunate to have three recent world premieres: To Know You at the Clayton Center for the Arts in Maryville, TN (November 2019), Party of Twelve at the Washington Theatre in Murfreesboro, TN (April 2022), and Shanktown at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, TN (July 2022). She wrote the screenplay for Nashville Rep鈥檚 2020 online holiday show 鈥楾was the Night, and her plays have been recognized by the Eugene O鈥橬eill National Playwrights Conference (semi-finalist), American Shakespeare Center鈥檚 Shakespeare鈥檚 New Contemporaries (semi-finalist), and the Kentucky Women Writers鈥� Conference (finalist).In Nashville, Mary鈥檚 plays have been produced at the Darkhorse Theater, Tennessee Women鈥檚 Theater Project, and the Cordelle Event Center.

Andy Landis: Screen & Stagewriting

Kay 鈥楢ndy鈥� Landis鈥� full-length plays include The Volunteer, A Special Day, Deep Purple, and the musicals HOWDEE! and Aesop. Her short plays and/or ten minute plays are Praying for a Hurricane, Camden on Ice, Hating Hope, 8.8.88, and Whatever. The Volunteer was a semi-finalist in the 2016 O’Neill National Playwright Conference, won the 2015 Centre Stage New Play Festival, and was a semi-finalist for both the 2015 Ashland New Plays Festival and the 2015 Playwrights鈥� Center Core Apprenticeship. The Volunteer enjoyed its world premier at Centre Stage in September 2016 with positive reviews. Landis鈥� short and 10-minute plays have been produced and/or developed by Warner Theater Festival, Ramapo College Theater Festival, ATHE, The Great Plains Theatre Conference, and Metropolitan Theatre Festival, to name a few.