Poets & Writers Staff

Jason Chapman has been with Poets & Writers since 1998. His prior IT experience includes work as varied as mainframe operations at Georgia Tech and software development for a military contractor. He is a science fiction writer whose work has appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov's Science Fiction, and Cosmos Magazine, among others, as well in anthologies such as Upgraded and Panverse One.

Jen joined Poets & Writers in April of 2022. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Hunter College (CUNY) and a PhD in English from Binghamton University (SUNY). At Binghamton, Jen was a graduate-student fellow in human rights and directed the Binghamton Poetry Project, a literary-service program that offers free community poetry workshops for adults and kids; she was also an editor for Harpur Palate literary magazine and codirected Writing by Degrees creative writing conference and the Literati Reading Series. A former full-time newspaper reporter in Baltimore and New Orleans, Jen has taught writing, literature, and arts-appreciation courses at colleges in New York and New Jersey. Her writing has appeared on Literary Hub, where she worked for the Book Marks editorial team for several years, and in Prairie Schooner, Spoon River Poetry Review, Third Coast, and Women’s Studies Quarterly (WSQ), among other publications. She has won scholarship and fellowship support from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Kettle Pond Writers’ Conference, Hunter College, and Binghamton University, where she was a Marion Clayton Link fellow in creative writing.

Amy Feltman joined Poets & Writers’ staff in June 2014. She earned her BA from Vassar College and holds an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University. Her work has been published in The Believer logger, The Millions, The Rumpus, The Toast, Cosmonauts Avenue, and Slice Magazine, among others. Her short story, “Speculoos,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2016. Her debut novel, Willa & Hesper, was released by Grand Central Publishing in 2019 and was longlisted for a Jewish National Book Award. Her second novel, All the Things We Don’t Talk About, was published by Grand Central Publishing in 2022.

Jamie Asaye FitzGerald joined Poets & Writers in 2005. She is a Los Angeles-based hapa poet from Hawaii, who believes in the transformative power of writing and words in action. Prior to joining Poets & Writers, she worked in advertising and as an educator. She has an MFA in poetry fom San Diego State University and a BA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Southern California where she received an Academy of American Poets College Prize and the Edward Moses Poetry Prize.  Her poetry is published in The American Poetry Review, Works & Days, Mom Egg Review, and elsewhere, and has been included in anthologies such as Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes & Shifts in Los Angeles (Tia Chucha Press, 2016) and Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles & Beyond (Beyond Baroque/Pacific Coast Poetry Series, 2015).

India served as the 2019-2020 Diana & Simon Raab Editorial Fellow before rejoining Poets & Writers in this new capacity in September 2021. She received her BA from Columbia University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and is a recent MFA graduate from NYU's Creative Writing program, where she taught undergraduate students and received the Writers in the Public Schools Fellowship. Before Poets & Writers, India worked as an Assistant Publicist at HarperCollins and later as an Agent Assistant at the Anne Edelstein Literary Agency. Her work is published in PANK, Pigeon Pages, American Chordata, and Glass: A Journal of Poetry, among others. A 2020 National Poetry Series finalist and 2021 BOA Editions A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize semi-finalist, India is also a professionally trained dancer, choreographer, and actor. She currently lives in Harlem.

Melissa joined the Poets & Writers staff as managing director in January 2010; in 2021 she was appointed the organization’s executive director. Her previous roles include development director at Poets House from 2003 to 2006, where she helped to secure a secure a permanent home for the organization in Battery Park City, and consulting to help raise millions of dollars for a range of arts and cultural organizations, including Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect 1: New Orleans, and International Center of Photography. Early in her career, she assisted Poets & Writers in crafting grant proposals that secured funding to launch pw.org. Melissa holds a BFA from New York University.

Luciano joined Poets & Writers in May of 2023. He received his BA in English and Philosophy from Columbia University, after studying abroad his junior year as an Oxbridge Scholar, and is a recent MFA graduate from Brooklyn College's Creative Writing program, where he was selected as a winner of the 2023 Himan Brown Award in Poetry and contributed to The Brooklyn Review. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, he now lives in Brooklyn.

Ricardo was the 2016-17 McCrindle Foundation Readings & Workshops Fellow, before becoming the Program Assistant in June 2017. He earned his BA from Baruch College and holds an MFA in Poetry from Rutgers-Newark. A recipient of fellowships from Lambda Literary, Poets House, and the Vermont Studio Center, and a semifinalist for the 2019 Vinyl 45 Chapbook Contest, Ricardo’s work has appeared in Muzzle Magazine, Witness Magazine, Hyperallergic, and The Offing, among others. Born in Mexico City and raised in Queens, he now lives in Brooklyn.

After interning with Poets & Writers in 2014, Bridget joined the staff in 2016. She received her BA from Harvard University, spending much of her time there cultivating the undergraduate publication Tuesday Magazine. Her nonfiction has appeared in Electric Literature, and her other work has appeared in Tuesday Magazine and various zines. Bridget is from New Jersey and loves amateur photography and challenging the notion of authenticity/the self.

Jessica joined Poets & Writers in May 2014. She received her BA from the University of California in San Diego, studying Human Development and Literature Writing, and has lived in New York City since 2000. She has worked in online media for Spin, CNET, and the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit for children's mental health. She was selected to participate in the JET Programme in 2007, teaching English in Japan. Jessica has trained in the martial art of Shorinji Kempo for many years and enjoys performing and writing music, photography, and comedy. Her writing has appeared in Black Renaissance Noire, Midwestern Gothic, PANK, and Tribes.

Emma joined Poets & Writers in 2019. Previously, she served as senior editor at Tin House magazine and associate editor at Tin House Books. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from The New School, where she later taught English and advised 12th Street, the Riggio Honors Program's literary magazine. Her writing has appeared in Conjunctions, BookForum, Tin House, and Guernica. With the support of the Elizabeth George Foundation, she is at work on a novel about quantum physics, family, and the Alps.

Kevin has been with Poets & Writers since 1999; he became editor in chief in 2013. He is the coauthor of The Poets & Writers Complete Guide to Being a Writer: Everything You Need to Know About Craft, Inspiration, Agents, Editors, Publishing, and the Business of Building a Sustainable Writing Career (Avid Reader Press, 2020). He holds a degree in journalism and received his MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was the poetry editor of the Iowa Review. He has given presentations and appeared on a number of panels on publishing at events such as the Library of Congress National Book Festival, the Sozopol Fiction Seminars, the Anguilla Lit Fest, the Slice Literary Writer’s Conference, the Iceland Writers Retreat, the Kauai Writers Conference, the Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, Poets Forum, the Bronx Book Fair, and the Writer’s Hotel. His poems have appeared in Poetry International, Fence, Pleiades, Verse, and a dozen other literary magazines. He has written book reviews for American Letters & Commentary, American Book Review, Chelsea, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Jessica joined Poets & Writers in November 2021. She received her BA in Art History from Boston College. When not working, she is often tending to her plants, writing prose, or playing with her dog, Maeve.

Karen joined Poets & Writers in 2023. She is a fact checker and editor at Narratively, the Poetry Foundation, USAFacts, The Appeal, and Global Women Connect, as well as a writer for NME and The Nation, where she was a fact checker and poetry assistant. Karen is a born-and-raised Hongkonger. An alumna of Columbia University’s journalism school and King’s College London, she earned First Class Honors while studying poetry, literature, classics, history, philosophy, politics, archival studies, and postcolonialism, before she was trained extensively across journalistic forms and beats. She frequently performs on stage, and founded and edited the magazines The King’s Poet and Poets of Columbia. Wild Court, The Poetry Society, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, and the Nuyorican Poets Café are among those who have recognized her work. Both within the realm of magazines and beyond, Karen has a track record of shining a light on marginalization. Often dissecting points of intersection within social justice, her work is doubly reflective of her immersion in pop culture – be it music, film, fiction, photography, or theatre.

Tim joined Poets & Writers in 2008. He has published novel excerpts in A Public Space, one of which was re-published in the 2012 Pushcart Prize Anthology; another excerpt received special mention in the 2008 Pushcart Prize Anthology. He has been a Teaching-Writing Fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, an Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction, and a Residential Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the MacDowell Colony. He is at work on a novel.

Bea joined Poets & Writers in October of 2023. They are currently working on their BA in Comparative Literature with a Minor in Creative Writing at Stanford University where they will be graduating in 2024. Before coming to Poets & Writers, they worked at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Comparative Literature and Creative Writing departments at their school. In their free time, they are a K-pop fan, a writer of short stories, and a student theatermaker with the Asian American Theater Project.

Rachel joined Poets & Writers’ development and marketing team in 2011; in 2021 she became Director of Development & Marketing. Her previous experience in the nonprofit arts sector includes roles with the Creative Capital Foundation and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Rachel has a background in visual art and is inspired by makers and storytellers of all types. She holds a BA from Bowdoin College and an MFA in Combined Media from Hunter College, and has received artist fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center, the Bronx Museum’s Artist in the Marketplace program, and Skowhegan.

Marva joined Poets & Writers in November 2022. She received her BS in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University, where she graduated magna cum laude. Before coming to Poets & Writers, Marva worked on several magazines and print publications, including Generasian, Pier To:, Antifragile, and Washington Square News. Beyond the world of print, Marva also has a background in digital video production, graphic design, and marketing. She is passionate about making the world a better place through the arts and spends her free time enjoying animated films, good food, and shared moments with friends.

DS Sulaitis is the recipient of three New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, in both fiction and creative nonfiction, and a recipient of a fiction grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation.

Her short stories have appeared several times in the Boston Review, once as the winner of their fiction contest, in addition to other literary magazines. She is completing a memoir and a book of short stories as well as working on a novel. She received a second-place prize in the 2022 American Short(er) Fiction contest. Her creative nonfiction was published in a W.W. Norton Anthology. In her spare time she is involved with bully breed dog rescue and lives with four pit bulls.

Jason joined the Poets & Writers staff in June 2019. He has more than years of experience in accounting and finance, including with non-profit organizations such as Planned Parenthood of New York City and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. He has an undergraduate degree in accounting from American International College and a master’s degree in professional accountancy from Southern University and A&M College. In his free time, Jason is a photographer and enjoys capturing the human spirit through his camera lens.