Alumni Directory
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Jonathan Ade (Alum, 2001-2002; Program Documentarian, 2010 & 2012)
Jonathan Ade attended the Workshop in playwriting from 2001-2002, joined the residential staff as a teacher and counselor from 2007-2009, and filmed documentaries of the program in 2010 and 2012. His documentary work Policing and Mental Illness for NBC Left Field earned him a Peabody Award for News in 2020; another documentary, “The New West Coast Sound”, was awarded an LA Area Emmy Award in 2021. Read more.
Liz Ahl (Alum, 1983-1986; Teaching Poet, 1997-2000)
Liz Ahl attended the Workshop in poetry from 1983-86, joined the residential staff as a teacher and counselor in 1990 and again from 1992-94. She returned as a teaching poet from 1997-2000, and is the author of numerous chapbooks; her most recent is Beating the Bounds (Hobblebush Books, 2017). She lives in Holderness, NH and teaches at Plymouth State University. Read more.
Cristina Alger (Alum, 1997)
Cristina Alger attended the Workshop in poetry in 1997. A graduate of Harvard and NYU Law School, she is the author of four novels, including the nationally best-selling thriller, The Banker’s Wife. Read more. Photo credit: Deborah Feingold
John Amen (Alum, 1983-1984)
John Amen attended the Workshop in poetry in 1983 and songwriting in 1984. He is the author of four collections of poetry: Christening the Dancer (Uccelli Press, 2003), More of Me Disappears (Cross-Cultural Communications, 2005), At the Threshold of Alchemy (Presa, 2009), and strange theater (New York Quarterly Books, 2015). He founded and continues to edit The Pedestal Magazine. Read more.
Photo credit: Chad Weeden
Will Arbery (Alum, 2006; Teacher-Counselor, 2009 & 2012)
Will Arbery attended the Workshop in poetry in 2006 and joined the residential staff as a teacher and counselor in 2009 and 2012. He is a playwright, performer, and filmmaker from Texas + Wyoming and his play, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, was a 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama. Read more. Photo credit: The Paris Review
Elena Belyea (Alum, 2005; Teacher-Counselor, 2008-2010)
Elena Belyea attended the workshop in Screen & Playwriting in 2005; she then joined the residential staff as a teacher and counselor from 2008-2010. She is Artistic Director of Tiny Bear Jaws (a little theatre company with big teeth), former Artistic Director of the Common Ground Arts Society, and a co-founder of the Edmonton Found Festival, a showcase of multidisciplinary arts events that take place in non-traditional venues. Read more about Elena.
Cat Blackard (Alum, 1999 and 2002-2003)
Cat Blackard attended the Workshop in fiction in 1999 and 2002 and creative nonfiction in 2003. They are the Executive Producer and “Mother Brain” of Omniverse, a podcasting consulting and production company. Read more about Cat.
Ross Bollinger (Alum, 2002-2004)
Ross Bollinger attended the Workshop in songwriting from 2002-2004. He is the creator of Pencilmation, an animated YouTube webseries with over 19 million subscribers. Read more about Ross.
Jeremy Borden (Alum, 2002; Teacher-Counselor, 2008 & 2010)
Jeremy Borden attended the Workshop in fiction in 2002 and returned as part of the residential staff in 2008 and 2010. A freelance journalist and editor, he is president of Untold Story and a former reporter for The Washington Post. He lives in Durham, NC.
Lucas Brown (Alum, 2007)
Lucas Brown attended the Workshop in songwriting in 2007 and is the Program Director of Charlottesville’s Music Resource Center, a non-profit, after-school arts program in Charlottesville. He leads Breakers, a local rock band.
Molly McCully Brown (Alum, 2007-2008)
Molly McCully Brown attended the Workshop in poetry from 2007-2008. Her debut poetry collection, The Virginia State Colony For Epileptics and Feebleminded, was named a New York Times Critics’ Top Book of 2017.
Sass Brown (Alum, 1986-1988)
Sass Brown attended the Workshop in fiction and poetry from 1986-1988 and joined the residential staff as a teacher and counselor from 1993-1994. She is the author of the poetry collection, USA-1000. Read more about Sass.
Nan Cohen (Alum, 1983-1984)
Nan Cohen attended the Young Writers Workshop in poetry in both 1983 and 1984. She is the author the poetry collections Unfinished City and Rope Bridge and directs the poetry program for the Napa Valley Writers Conference. Read more about Nan.
Bryan Doerries (Alum, 1991; Teacher-Counselor, 1995-1998)
Bryan Doerries attended the Workshop in poetry in 1992 and joined the residential staff as a teacher and counselor from 1995-98. He is the founder of Theater of War, a project that presents readings of ancient Greek plays to service members, veterans, and their families to help them initiate conversations about the visible and invisible wounds of war. In 2017, he was named the New York City Public Artist in Residence.
Tom Dolby (Alum, 1993)
Tom Dolby attended the Workshop in fiction writing in 1993. A filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer, his most recent film, The Artist’s Wife (2021), stars Bruce Dern and Lena Olin. Read more about Tom.
Laura Eve Engel (Alum, 2000 & 2002; Residential Program Director, 2012-2016)
One human with two first names, Laura Eve Engel attended the Workshop in poetry in 2000 and 2002, joined the residential staff as a teacher and counselor from 2007-2010, and returned as Residential Program Director from 2012-2016. She is the author of the poetry collection Things That Go and is one half of the electro-pop band, The Old Year. Read more about Laura Eve.
Cassi Feldman (Alum, 1991)
Cassi Feldman attended the Workshop in fiction in 1991. She has worked as a journalist for 60 Minutes and The San Francisco Bay Guardian and is currently executive editor at Type Investigations, a non-profit newsroom.
Kathryn Funkhouser (Alum, 2005)
Kathryn Funkhouser attended the Workshop as a playwriting student in 2005. Her plays are available at Playscripts and her essays can be found in The Atlantic and The Nation, among others.
Andrew Rose Gregory (Alum, 1996-1998; Teaching Songwriter, 2008-2009)
Andrew Rose Gregory attended the Workshop in poetry from 1996-98, joined the residential staff as a teacher and counselor from 2002-04, and returned as a teaching songwriter in 2008 and 2009. He is a member of The Gregory Brothers, the creators of Auto-Tune the News and Songify This! Read more about Andrew.
Lauren Grodstein (Alum, 1990)
Lauren Grodstein attended the Workshop as a playwriting student in 1990. She is the author of four novels including The New York Times best-seller A Friend of the Family, and The Washington Post Book of the Year, The Explanation for Everything.