Alina is a writer and theatremaker based in Seattle. She's the founding editor of Bracken magazine and a published poet and fiction writer. Her plays have been produced on both sides of the Atlantic. She was a 2023-24 Dramatist Guild Foundation National Fellowship Finalist. In 2023, after training with Frantic Assembly, London, she started Verbooom physical theater company. In 2024, she wrote for Dragonslayer, an immersive experience by AnA Collaborations, and created URGE, Verbooom’s inaugural production. Her recent work includes Cabinet of Fathers—an interactive art installation exploring fatherlessness, and WAKE—an immersive experience set at a wake. www.alinarios.com

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Ankober is a first-generation Ethiopian-American shaped by the renaissance of Seattle’s Hip Hop scene. From the Hidmo to artist collectives, this upbringing grounded her in critical race theory and the art of being true to oneself. A legacy student of Bennett College for Women, she designed a major in Womanist Spiritual Quest, blending classical philosophy with Black feminist literature. Following a monastic apprenticeship in Honduras studying the intersection of writing and spirituality, Ankober remains dedicated to the belief that writing is a form of prayer and that teaching is inseparable from learning.

Beth (she/her) is a Seattle-based performer, dramaturg, and teaching artist. She is the Dramaturg and Curriculum Specialist at The 5th Avenue Theatre and the Associate Producer of Literary Management for Dacha Theatre. As an educator, Beth has worked with Seattle’s Young Shakespeare Workshop, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Jet City Improv, Book-It Repertory, ACT, and Seattle Rep’s Public Works Program. Beth graduated magna cum laude from NYU’s Gallatin School with a degree in Theatre Studies and the Historicization of Dramatic Literature and would be happy to explain what that means.  www.beth-pollack.com

Bill hosts “Week In Review” on Seattle’s NPR station KUOW. He created, hosted, and wrote for the nationwide public radio satire show “Rewind” and he won the Seattle International Stand-Up Comedy Competition. He’s enjoying Miriam Tobin’s Yearlong In Playwriting class and showing little promise.

Buffy is a member of the Playwrights' Center, Northwest Playwrights Alliance, Dramatists Guild and WGA. The co-author of two curriculum guides for playwriting; she has taught at Bethel University and the U of MN, both undergrad and post grads. Serving as Literary Manager for the Jungle Theatre and as production dramaturg in Minneapolis, she was also in the Circle Repertory/NYC playwriting unit. A recipient of numerous fellowships and commissions, her plays have been seen in professional theatres across the country. She has performed in theatre, film and television, winning a Golden Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Dion is the author of three poetry collections: Sadness of the Apex Predator, a finalist for the Steel Toe Book Prize and the Ex Ophidia Prize; Ghost Dogs, winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, The Independent Press Award for Poetry, and Limerence, a finalist for the John Pierce Chapbook Competition. Her work appears in The Sun, Rattle, Chicago Quarterly Review, and Alaska Quarterly Review. A podcaster at The Hive Poetry Collective, Dion leads poetry workshops, and reads for Catamaran Literary Reader. She splits her time between a ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains and a residence in Bellingham.

Dyer is a newspaper reporter at heart who bridges the gap between on air and online news. He has worked as a beat reporter, online content producer, and helmed an indie podcast that produced award-winning features. He is currently the pop culture host for KUOW's Meet Me Here podcast and serves as the station's deputy online managing editor. Outside of work (and, honestly, inside of work), Dyer is a huge nerd who enjoys comic cons and debating whether or not "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie.

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Holly is a playwright/composer/lyricist based in Portland, OR. Her musicals include POP! Goes the Bubble (GSL Fringe 2017), Empty Chairs (Dramatists Guild/ASCAP Songwriters Showcase, NYC 2018; Fertile Ground 2019; reading at Broadway Rose 2019; virtual reading at Dramatists Guild 2021), Tale of Girl (Part of Go Play Outside, Applause Books, 2022), Happily Never After (Fertile Ground 2026), and her latest written with Lolly Ward, CESSAIR: The Birth of Ireland (Fertile Ground 2024; reading at ART 2025). She is a member of LineStorm Playwrights, Maestra Music, ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild.

Kate is a USA TODAY bestselling author and award-winning playwright.  Building Madness – Winner, Panowski Playwriting Award. Working for Crumbs – Winner, B Street Comedy Festival. The Mysterious Affair at Styles – Critic’s Pick by the Star Tribune. Power – Winner, Renegade Theatre Festival. Her Maggie MacKay: Magical Tracker book series is optioned for film and television. She trained in on-camera puppetry with Michael Earl (Mr. Snuffleupagus) and organized Playwrights on the Moon, a time capsule of plays aboard the Griffin Lander to be left on the moon. Madam(e) Lou will be making its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026. www.katedanley.com

Jeffrey is a Ph.D. candidate in Human-Centered Design and Engineering at UW, where he is a member of the Tactile and Tactical (TAT) Design Lab and Wildlab. His research examines how people interpret and interact with conversational AI systems with a focus on the social and cultural implications of language technologies, including how AI adopts sociolinguistic styles and how users perceive authenticity, trust, and control. 

Beyond academia, Jeffrey supports expanded access to education and technology for underrepresented communities through his board membership with Acquiring Knowledge for Transcendence (AKT) and contributions to A Vision for Engineering Literacy and Access (AVELA).

Raised in Canada, Jeremy has spent over 30 years as an actor and a director in various stage, film, and television projects in Vancouver, Toronto, New York and Seattle.

Trained at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre School, he’s appeared on stage in productions of The Hot L Baltimore, The Winter’s Tale, and Lawrence & Holloman. On Seattle stages you may have seen him most recently in Glengarry Glen Ross (Second Story Rep) and Continuity (Blue Hour Theatre Group).

He’s thrilled to take part in Scrib Fest and read new works from great writers!

Jess (they/them) is the Associate Director of Education at The 5th Avenue Theatre Company as well as a freelance dramaturg, researcher, and writer. Jess received their BA in Anthropology from the College of William and Mary and their MA in Theatre Studies from the University of Houston. Jess is passionate about increasing access to arts education and supporting students, educators, and teaching artists along their creative journeys. Jess is a former adjunct professor of theater and currently serves as the VP of Institutions for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas and a Board Member for WA Thespians.

Jessica is a mother, educator, historian, activist and writer. She holds a doctorate from the University of Washington where she studied cultivating and sustaining systems for diversity, inclusion and justice. She currently serves as the Business Operations Manager & Inclusion Champion at Story Stream, ensuring the company and its technology reflects and affirms the diversity of the world’s writers and their lived experiences and contributes to the growth of a more just world.  

Liz is an editor for daily news, features and special projects at KUOW. Her coverage has largely focused on immigration and underrepresented communities. Her work has also been heard on national shows including NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Here & Now, PRI's The World, Latino USA, Snap Judgment, The Takeaway and BBC News Service. She is a NW native who's also lived in Spain, Peru, NYC and Ritzville, WA.

Lolly is the cofounder and director of Portland’s LineStorm Playwrights. As a member of The Actors’ Gang, she originated roles in Sarah Ruhl’s Orlando and acted in the stage and film versions of Tim Robbins’ Embedded at the Public Theater. She has served as a dramaturg and judge for the Mach 33 festival of new science-driven plays and won the Max K. Lerner Playwriting Fellowship. With LineStorm, she edited a collection of outdoor-themed plays for Applause Books, titled Go Play Outside. She is currently collaborating with composer-lyricist Holly Harmon on the Irish myth-inspired musical Cessair.
New Play Exchange profile
https://linestormplaywrights.com

Lucy is a senior podcast producer at KUOW. She helped launch and now produces Booming, a podcast about Seattle's economy. She also produces THE WILD with Chris Morgan, a podcast about the wonder and resilience of nature. Before KUOW, she produced at Orbit Media in NYC and at Maine Public Radio in Portland, ME. She has a graduate degree from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with a focus on longform narrative audio.

Miriam (she|her) is a playwright, theatre maker, educator, and arts leader. As Founder & Executive Artistic Director of SCRiB LAB, she organizes events for playwrights all around the Seattle area and beyond. Miriam has performed on stages and taught drama in classrooms around the US and Europe. Read more about her plays here: www.mirbct.com and her community work here: www.scriblab.org.

Natalie (she/her) is a dancer, actor, & choreographer. She was most recently seen as Dance Captain/Ensemble in Cinderella at Driftwood! She performs regularly with Verlaine & McCann at The Triple Door, Phoenix Theatre, Edmonds Driftwood, Coalescence Dance Co. and ZTHEORY. Natalie won a Gregory Award for Outstanding Dance Production with Verlaine & McCann! Despite being a nocturnal creature, she works as Finance Director at ZTHEORY during the day. Her current creative interest is incorporating sustainability and climate education in her art. In her free time, she’s usually eating sugar...or lecturing someone on how to recycle properly.

Nick (he/him) is a new face in the Seattle arts community, having recently moved here from Iowa. Nick has been a b-boy for almost 20 years, and loves many different styles of hip-hop and salsa dancing. He is also an actor, writer, musician, and martial artist, but his first love will always be dance. Nick has shared the stage with CONTRA-TIEMPO as a community dancer during their JoyUS JustUS tour, and recently made his Seattle performance debut in Pork Filled Productions’ Instant Noodles 2.

Nisi (they/them) is a multiple award-winning author and editor of more than a dozen books of speculative fiction and related nonfiction, including the standard text on diverse representation, Writing the Other: A Practical Approach and the Nebula Award finalist Everfair. Recent books include Speculation; Making Amends and The Day and Night Books of Mardou Fox. Editing credits include New Suns 2: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color and the Nicola Griffith collection She Is Here.

Shawl has guest lectured at Duke University, Spelman College, Sarah Lawrence College, and UW, and they teach courses based on Writing the Other. They serve on the boards of Clarion West Writers Workshop and Carl Brandon Society.

Poet & interviewer Paul, son of a labor activist father & Cuban immigrant mother, was born in Chicago. He’s lived in King County since 1988, founded the Cascadia Poetics Lab, Cascadia Poetry Festival & co-founded the Poetry Postcard Fest. Books include DaySong Miracle (Past 62); Cascadian Prophets (Interviews 1999-2023); Haibun de la Serna; A Time Before Slaughter/Pig War: & Other Songs of Cascadia; American Prophets (interviews 1994-2012); American Sentences; & A Time Before Slaughter. Co-Editor of Winter in America (Again: Poets Respond to 2024 Election; Cascadian Zen & other anthologies. Literary Executor for the late poet Sam Hamill, Paul lives in Rainier Beach.

Phyllis edits stories and shows at KUOW. Her previous work has reached audiences across the Northwest and around the world through NPR and its stations, American Public Media, The New York Times, Wondery, and Springer academic press. The Public Media Journalists Association named Phyllis its inaugural Editor of the Year, and the University of Washington inducted Phyllis into its Communication Department Hall of Fame.

Rebecca is a Seattle-based theatremaker interested in telling stories about all kinds of people at all the intersections in their lives. She is an actor, a director and a producer, and is the founding artistic director of The Shattered Glass Project, a theatre company amplifying the voices of women, nonbinary and transgender playwrights and directors. Rebecca manages the TSGP Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program providing artists the tools to create and maintain safe, inclusive, anti-racist and consent-based spaces for creating theatre, and a connected network of relationships within the Seattle theatre community.

Sara Jean is an award-winning playwright whose works include THE STORYTELLER (Artists Repertory Theatre), CHICK FIGHT! (Shaking the Tree Theatre, Artemis Theatre Project), THE DELAYS (Theatre Vertigo), < 3 (Seven Devils), GROW LEARN PLAY (Theatre 33) and PORTRAIT OF THE WIDOW KINSKI (Vivid Stage, JAW New Play Festival). She has received the Oregon Book Award for Drama, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Spark Award, and was the inaugural winner of the International Thomas Wolfe Playwriting Competition. She is the Dramatist Guild regional representative for Oregon and a member of LineStorm Playwrights. MFA: Northwestern University.

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Sofia is a playwright and dramaturg. Recipient of the 2023 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship for Drama, she's been published by Smith & Kraus, Applause Acting Series, Meriwether Publishing, Pioneer Drama Service, and The Pitkin Review. Recent plays include: I’m Here for You, Junior Year Abroad, Group; or Marlene is Dead, Remote, The Eclipse, and Bugs! She’s worked as a theatre artist in NYC, Dublin, Helsinki, and Portland, OR. Awards: Portland Civic New Play Award (Finalist), Finlandia Foundation, Spirit of Goddard, and Pearl Foundation. MFA Playwriting/Creative Writing, Goddard College. Memberships: Dramatist Guild, SAG-AFTRA, AEA, and LineStorm Playwrights. www.sofiamolimbi.com

Tess is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Oakland, CA. She is the Artistic Director of Penguin Productions, Associate Creative Director at Union Arts Center, and founder of the We Need New Plays festival. You may also have seen her work as a playwright, improviser, and musician on a multitude of stages across the city, or her drawings on billboards! In her free(???) time, you can catch Tess taking pictures of her cat, listening to sad music in the forest, and feeling very small in the big big universe.

Zachary (They/He) sees art, and especially poetry, as a powerful and peaceful medium through which to change the human imagination. They feel their role as a member of Cascadia 2050 is an opportunity to use art and poetry to help their friends, peers, and fellow Cascadians move toward living their lives in a manner consistent with the rhythms of the planet. They volunteer at the Cascadia Poetry Lab as a member of the Cascadia 2050 Youth Committee, Poetry Postcard Fest project board, the Podcast committee, and wherever else is helpful at the moment.

Zheng has been a writer, director, and producer in theater, video, and film for over two decades. He is the artistic director of Dare to Dance Seattle, a nonprofit he founded in 2010. In recent years, Zheng has pioneered the groundbreaking “dancical” format by merging a traditional play with a dance show. His two original dancicals, Unstoppable: A Queer Dancical (2024) and Dance with Me (2025), premiered to enthusiastic audiences and earned Gregory Award nominations for Outstanding Production in Dance/Movement.