Amanda Cook lives in Gloucester with her husband, James, and children Abigail and Samuel. She sees writing as an integral part of life. She knits, spins yarn, plays fiddle, feeds people and dances when she pleases. It is in this spirit of living fully that she approaches teaching and writing.

Dan Duffy, Ed.D. is a retired community college administrator, who along with his wife Helene, is now a New England Innkeeper at The Beech Tree B&B in Rockport, Massachusetts. He Indie published his memoir, “Brother, Brother: A Brother Searches for His Missing Brother” in May 2016 as a tribute to his older brother, Rich. Dan has been a member of the GWC Board for the past two years, recently assuming Chair of the Education Committee.

Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons is a writer, teacher, and storyteller. Her work has recently appeared in the Web del Sol‘s “Writers on the Job” series, Black Fox Literary Magazine, Hippocampus Magazine, Crack the Spine, The Literary Review, and Hypertext Magazine. After earning her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Fairleigh Dickinson University, she created No, YOU Tell It!, a “switched-up” storytelling series with a twist: Each NYTI participant develops his or her own story on the page, then flips scripts with a partner to present each other’s story on stage. Learn more and listen to the podcast at noyoutellit.com.

Ann McArdle earned her MFA in fiction at the Pine Manor Solstice program. She has developed curriculum and taught creative writing as well as expository writing at various levels from teen to adult over the past fifteen years. She has published nine nonfiction books. Her short short story “Tomorrow,” appeared in the premiere issue of the journal Pear Noir! And aired on <http://www.wordstogopodcast.com>.  She is currently working on a collection of 10-minute plays as well as a memoir of her years in Uruguay in the early 70s.

Dorothy Shubow Nelson’s book of poems, The Dream of the Sea, was published in 2008. Formerly a Senior Lecturer in English at UMass Boston, she taught writing and literature for 25 years. She has an M.A. in English with a concentration in Composition Studies and has presented numerous papers on the teaching of writing at educational conferences. Recent writings include her review of Bruce Weigl’s new book of poems, The Abundance of Nothing, published in Consequence Magazine, Vol. 5, Spring 2013 and Collages: New Work by Joy Dai Buell published on-line in North Shore Art Throb. She is a member of the Board and the Education Committee of the Gloucester Writers Center. She served as a founding editor of Union News (UMass Boston), and The East Boston Community News and Editor of Survival Kit, an Occupational Health and Safety Newsletter . She has been a denizen of the North Shore and Gloucester for many years.

Nicole Richon-Schoel, M.Ed, LMHC is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Gloucester. Her professional life has focused on women’s issues. She has extensive experience leading groups using creative arts, drama, poetry and the written word to honor the voices of women who have been marginalized by domestic violence and poverty. She is the author of In Harm’s Way, a collaborate community theatre production highlighting true stories of courage and healing from domestic violence. She is a co-Chair of the Gloucester Coalition for the Prevention of Domestic Abuse

M. Lynda Robinson has been working in theatre, film & TV for the past 35 years as an actor, director, producer, teacher, coach, and playwright. She attended the Masters Program in Playwriting at B.U. and is a published playwright. As an actor she has performed in many theaters in Boston including the Publick, Nora, Lyric, Wilbur, W.H.A.T., Huntington, Provincetown Rep, Merrimack, Gloucester Stage, Stoneham, Shear Madness, New Rep, Wheelock, among others. Lynda has performed in hundreds of commercials, corporate videos, live trade-shows, and voice-overs as well as performing principal roles in film and TV. In 1993 she was honored with the Norton Award for Outstanding Boston Actress, one of the first local actors to win this award. Lynda teaches at Boston Casting, Wheelock College Family Theatre, and the Gloucester Writers Center, among others, and was awarded the Distinguished Arts Educator Award in Theatre, by Arts/Learning at a ceremony at the State House in 2010.

Josephine Schoel, MA, PhD candidate, teaches English Literature and Writing at SUNY Albany. She received her Master’s Degree from San Francisco State, and taught Creative Writing and English to elementary school students and inmates at San Quentin State Prison. Prior to that, Josie worked as a literary agent at Francis Goldin Agency in New York City. Her poetry has been published in a number of literary magazines and journals, and her work has been recognized by The American Academy of Poetry. She is cofounder of Sadie Magazine, which offers resources to young women interested in becoming more self-sufficient, knowledgeable and independent.

Ellen Szabo promotes creative writing for personal investigation, enrichment and social change. She earned her B.A. from Harvard College, and her M.Ed. from Columbia University Teacher’s College. She writes and teaches with a focus on how innovation and creativity can illuminate, inspire and advocate compassionate transformation. She teaches ‘Creative Writing for Social Work’ at the University of Iowa School of Social Work. Her private practice, based in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, provides instruction, coaching, editing and support to individuals and groups, locally and online.
www.justwritenow.org.

Patricia Vesey-McGrew, MA, NCPsyA is a supervising and training analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute Boston, where she is past president and a faculty member. She is Deputy Editor (US) on The Journal of Analytical Psychology, a member of the Council on Accreditation and Board of Trustees of ABAP and a past member of the NAAP Board of Directors. She has presented papers and workshops internationally on a number of topics including The Dead Mother and Power of Dreams. Her most recent publication is a chapter in Jungian Psychoanalysis, Volume Three (Open Court). She has a private practice in Rockport and Cambridge.

Sandra Williams believes writing is therapeutic and enlightening, as it relies on our intuition, our imagination and expresses the inspiration of our thoughts, feelings and experiences. She has an MA from Villanova University and has taught writing, poetry and world literature at both the high school and university levels for over 25 years. She is author of Moss on Stone: an historical novella, based on a mid-nineteenth century diary of a Rockport, Massachusetts woman, withTime and Tide: a collection of tales to be published in the fall of 2017. Sandra is a member of the Education Committee and the Finish Line writers’ group at Gloucester Writers Center.