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Roland Barksdale-Hall currently serves as president of JAH Kente International, Washington, D.C. He is author of several books for both adults and children, including The African American Family's Guide to Tracing Our Roots. In 2009 he was awarded the Blue, Gold and Black: Color of Achievement Award from the University of Pittsburgh. |
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Gloria Clover, conference director, writer, and seeker, encourages writers to ask questions, seek answers, press on toward the prize ... in both writing career and spiritual living. Her novella, The Remaking of Moe McKenna, appears in a Barbour Publishing anthology titled Race to the Altar. Her previous romance novel, Brianna's Pardon, was also published by Barbour. |
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Hana Haatainen Caye is a full-time writer and voice-over talent. Her work has appeared in dozens of magazines, websites and anthologies. "Because conservatives can be green too," Hana's new passion is blogging as the Green Grandma. Her blog "where old-fashioned ways combine with 21st century common sense," addresses practical things we can all do to help the environment. |
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Michele Huey serves up a cup of inspiration with "God, Me & a Cup of Tea," her award-winning weekly newspaper column and daily radio program. Her work has been published in numerous anthologies and national publications. She is a writing mentor for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild, ChristianFictionMentors.com, and The Writing Academy. |
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Liana Laverentz is the author of three contemporary romances with The Wild Rose Press: Thin Ice, Jake’s Return, and Ashton’s Secret. Thin Ice was a 2008 EPPIE winner for best contemporary romance, and Jake’s Return was a 2008 Golden Leaf Award winner. Liana is a member of Romance Writers of America, and a moderator at The Bookspa Yahoo Loop. |
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Christine Doreian Michaels belongs to several poetry organizations in Pittsburgh and has been published locally by Taproots, The Exchange, Mad Women in the Attic, Pittsburgh Post Gazette and nationally/ internationally in Songs for the Living Tradition, Sandburg/Livesay Anthology, Only the Sea Keeps, Along These Rivers, Labyrinth Pathways and Fission of Form. |
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Liane Ellison Norman won the Wisteria Prize for 2006, awarded by Paper Journey Press, for her poem “What There’d Been.” Her poems have been published in the North American Review, Kestrel, Grasslimb, Rune, Voices From the Attic, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Pittsburgh City Paper, on newversenews.com and on the Pittsburgh Opera website. |
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Matt Snyder is a reporter for The Herald in Sharon, a 20,000-circulation daily newspaper. A 2005 graduate from Westminster College, he has a Bachelor of Arts in English. He lives in Mercer, and when he's not toiling over newsprint for a pittance, he can be found nerding it up at Bell's Comics and Trading Cards, Grove City. |
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Audrey Stallsmith is the author of the Thyme Will Tell series of mysteries from WaterBrook Press and The Body They May Kill from Thomas Nelson. Her work has also appeared in periodicals such as Woman's World, Birds & Blooms, and Moody Magazine. She writes articles on plant folklore for her website, Thyme Will Tell, and on apologetics for Inklings of Truth. |
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Shirley S. Stevens leads a Christian writers group, The First Word, in Sewickley, and is a member of the Squirrel Hill Writers Workshop and the Pittsburgh Poetry Society. Past president of The St. Davids Christian Writers Conference, she continues to serve on their board. Shirley has recently had poetry published in Along These Rivers, Fission and Form, and Common Wealth. |
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Marjie Stewart teaches English and manages the Writers' Center at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She earned her PhD in English Composition from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2009. Her dissertation concerned the teaching of writing. A well-known Pittsburgh playwright, she was recently invited to join SPEC, a prestigious playwrights' critique group. |
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Linda Turner has published articles and poetry. Her poetry has won various contests, including 3rd place for serious at St David’s her first year and honorable mention out of 169 for a ByLine free verse competition. She offers encouraging talks on life experiences and hymn histories at ladies and youth/children’s meetings. |
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Bobbi Updegraff is the author of six Church Choir Mysteries with Guideposts Books, including The Baffling Bequest, The Case of the Grandfather Clock, Puzzle in Patchwork, and Un-Nimble Thimble, and she was featured in their compilation Prayers for Every Need. Her optimism spills over into all she does. She is a writer, speaker, teacher, and mission mobilizer. |