Kerri Smith Majors
Founder & Editor
Writing stuff: I have an MFA from Columbia University, and some of my own writing can be found in “Guernica,” ” So To Speak,” “Ellipsis,” and “Poets and Writers.” I’ve been the recipient of the Carolyn Doty Memorial Scholarship to the Squaw Valley Writers Community, and for six years I was a writing professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University. I am represented by Penn Whaling of the Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency.
Personal stuff: While I’m still a California girl at heart, the fact is I’ve lived most of my life on the wrong coast. My parents whisked me away to Massachusetts right after I was born, so I spent the first 8 years of my life there, before the family moved back to California. After graduating from UC Berkeley, I moved to Brooklyn, NY, where I spent 6 years doing various jobs to support my writing habit (working as a nanny, bookstore clerk, personal assistant, manager of an olive oil shop…). While in grad school, I met my now-hubby Mike and we moved to Greenwich, CT, where we lived for six years. In the summer of 2010, we moved to Weston, MA and had a baby girl named Elena. When I’m not hanging with Elena, writing, or YARNing, I’m probably reading, cooking, or with friends. I might also be gardening, wasting time on Facebook, or watching something from the ol’ Netlflix queue.
Shannon Marshall
Co-founder, Contributing Editor
My love of storytelling first took me down the path toward theater. I studied drama at the California State School of the Arts, San Joaquin Delta College, and Yale University prior to graduating from the University of California Los Angeles School for Theater, Film and Television. Then, I figured out that I would much rather write stories then act in them. So, I ditched theater to become a high school English teacher and married an astrophysicist/Math Dude. When I’m not reading, teaching, or traveling, I am writing. My recent screenplay, “Follow Me” placed in the semi-finals of the 2010 UCLA Screenwriting Competition.
Co-founding and co-editing YARN with Kerri in 2010/2011 was a dream come true! How many people get to work on a project they love, surrounded by literature they adore, with a person who has been a close friend for twenty years?! In August of 2011, I decided to enter the MFA in Creative Writing program at National University (while maintaining my job as a high school English teacher), forcing me to step back a bit from my YARN duties. (I’ve officially petitioned for more hours in the day–apparently, it’s a no-go.) I’m not leaving YARN entirely, however, I’ll be regularly blogging the ins-and-outs of an all-online MFA experience in the future!
Colleen Oakley
Poetry Editor
I have taught writing workshops for young people from coast to coast, including poetry, drama, and narrative non-fiction courses for Johns Hopkins’ Center for Talented Youth (ages 10-18), and, most recently, scriptwriting at Fairleigh Dickinson University and business writing at Stevens Institute of Technology. A frequent judge for high school playwriting contests, I have an MFA from the Yale School of Drama; my plays have been produced in New York and at high schools around the country.
After spending the last decade in the NYC area, I moved to Maine this year to live out my fantasy of being a writer in the woods. Along with my husband and two small boys, I’m learning how to ride a (small) tractor, fix up an old house, and make peace with the coyotes and snakes.
Lourdes Keochgerien
YA Consultant & Reader
Formal Tidbits: I am a recent graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University with a B.A. in English Language and Literature and a minor in Spanish Language and Literature. I was an assistant editor, then co-editor, of the campus’s literary magazine Knightscapes, completed an honor’s thesis languidly entitled, “The Odyssey of the YA Label: From Ambiguity and Certainty,” and worked for three years as an Assistant to the Children’s Librarian at a public library.
Bradley Philbert
Editor-at-Large
Bradley PhilbertI began writing and editing professionally while I was still an undergraduate at San Francisco State University. Thus, for most of my adult life I have been putting words and punctuation in the proper order for publication. I’m not sure I have many other major talents, which makes my work as a university instructor and tutor quite appropriate. I’ve written and/or edited for Bedford-St. Martin’s, “McSweeney’s Internet Tendency,” “No Cover Magazine,” “GamerNode,” “Limbo,” “Knightscapes,” and “The Equinox,” in addition to several other publications and authors who don’t wish to tarnish their good names by associating with me publicly.
I received my B.A. in English from Fairleigh Dickinson University, which did not learn its lesson the first time and invited me back to teach. I live with my wife in New Jersey. My minor talents include making kickass cacio e pepe and finding better-than-average parking spots, sometimes in the same day.
Interns, 2011-2012
Julia Wang
Editorial Assistant
Writing and YA: I have a Creative Writing M.F.A. from American University and am working on my Children’s Literature M.A. thesis for Hollins University. The thesis is on the great, late Diana Wynne Jones. Work-wise, I’m the DC Coordinator for the Scholastic Writing Awards, collaborating with their affiliate, Writopia Lab DC. I’m also a writing instructor with Writopia Lab DC. Previously, I have interned at a publishing house and a literary agency. My short stories have been published in online literary journals.
Random Peeks: I like dogs. I like scarves. I’m terrified of spiders. Even the word—spider—sticks to my teeth the wrong way with its “ssss,” and then makes me swallow it with the “rrrr.” Then possibly “ssss” again, if there are more than one. Nasty. I play two songs on the guitar. By the time you’re reading this, I will have undoubtedly learned more. I play the piano. I like to play “The Lord of The Rings” theme songs.
Jonathan Spindel
Grants Researcher & Writer
I’m a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, with an English degree (concentration: creative writing). At Wesleyan I was on the editorial staff of Ostranenie Magazine and Stethoscope Press’s chapbook project. Now I’m back in my hometown, Austin, TX, where I’m learning how to write grants for cultural and literary nonprofits. I also write prose, mostly short stories. My favorite authors are those from the Raymond Carver / Gordon Lish school of minimalism and their postmodern offspring, but I read everything and everyone. I suffer from acute book acquisition syndrome—when I flew home from college, I had to mail myself ten large boxes (two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves) of books. I welcome technology and digital literature (McSweeney’s and The New York Times are my top iPhone apps), but I still prefer my books on paper.
In my spare time I enjoy cooking, hiking, and hanging out with my dog. I listen to a lot of public radio. My hobby interests include Eastern and Western philosophy, modern art, and theoretical quantum physics.
Jessica Tackett
Library Projects Coordinator
I spent my first eighteen years preparing for the life of an English major by constantly reading and constantly writing. I got bitten by the YA bug early and fought with my 11th grade teachers to let me read “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” instead of “Pride and Prejudice.” While studying English Lit and Creative Writing at Central Michigan University, I wrote a novel, sang a cappella, and tried to explain to my classmates that YA was worth writing and reading. I worked in the youth department of a public library after graduation: my favorite part of the job was when the UPS man arrived with boxes of shiny new books. Applying to library school led me to the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, where I am currently a student in a dual degree program. If all goes according to plan, I will earn an MS in Library and Information Science and an MA in Children’s Literature in May 2012.
When I’m not reading books for class, I can usually be found buying expensive notebooks, creating really elaborate schedules on Excel, or drinking dangerous amounts of coffee.
Stephanie Nebeker
Visual Editor
My name is Stephanie Nebeker and I am a senior at Boone High School. I have lived many places in my life like England and Scotland, and wound up in Florida. I really enjoy being with my family and hope to have one of my own some day. I love long drives and finding interesting things to photograph. I hope to be able to have many adventures in my years to come.
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