PLANNING TEAM
Jackie DesForges
Jackie DesForges is an artist, writer, and bookseller currently based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Air/Light Magazine, Alta Journal, Exposition Review, Off Assignment, Black Mountain Radio, Woman Made Gallery, and more. She published the popular zine On Erotic Fanfiction and founded Blue Room, an online erotica/art bookshop.
Gina Frangello
Gina Frangello’s fifth book, the memoir Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason, was selected as a New York Times Editor’s Choice and included on numerous “Best of 2021” lists including at Lithub, BookPage, and The Chicago Review of Books. Frangello is the author of four books of fiction and a lead editor at Row House Publishing. She has more than two decades of experience as an editor and founder of independent presses, literary magazines, and popular online literary communities.
Leanne Phillips
Leanne Phillips is a writer, book coach, editor, and paralegal. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from UCR Palm Desert and is the fiction editor for Kelp Journal. Leanne is a lifelong Californian currently based on the Central Coast. You can find some of her writing at leannephillips.com.
Rob Roberge
Rob Roberge’s most recent book, the memoir Liar was named a Spring 2016 Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers” pick. It was singled out in the New Yorker, which wrote, “…both the smallest and the biggest pieces of his memoir fascinate.” He is also the author of four books of fiction and an assistant professor and core faculty at UC Riverside’s Palm Desert MFA in Writing Program. In addition to writing and teaching, he is a guitarist and singer/songwriter in The Hitchcock Brunettes and the seminal LA art punk band, The Urinals.
Heather Scheeler
Heather Scheeler is a veterinary receptionist, a plant enthusiast, and the Swiss Army Knife of Circe Consulting. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UCR Palm Desert and likes to freelance with the LA Times events team.
Suzanne Van Atten
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She's also the author of Moon Puerto Rico (Hachette, 6th edition) travel guide and an essayist who's been published in The Gettysburg Review, The Chattahoochee Review and Full Grown People.