Poets & Writers Staff

Miesha joined Poets & Writers in November 2023. She holds a BA in Anthropology from American University, where her senior thesis, titled "We Are Not Our Mistakes", delved into the redemptive power of poetry to build community and illuminate pathways of care beyond the confines of incarceration, into spaces of healing and compassion.

As an accomplished arts administrative professional, Miesha has cultivated partnerships with diverse international and U.S. based artistic organizations.  Prior to joining Poets & Writers, she co-facilitated workshops dedicated to amplifying the voices of incarcerated poets at Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop.  Additionally, Miesha has provided operational support to artists at the Kuona Artists Collective in Nairobi, Kenya.  Her favorite book is Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson.

Jason Chapman has been with Poets & Writers since 1998. His prior IT experience includes work as varied as mainframe operations at Georgia Tech and software development for a military contractor. He is a science fiction writer whose work has appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov's Science Fiction, and Cosmos Magazine, among others, as well in anthologies such as Upgraded and Panverse One.

Amy Feltman joined Poets & Writers’ staff in June 2014. She earned her BA from Vassar College and holds an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University. Her work has been published in The Believer logger, The Millions, The Rumpus, The Toast, Cosmonauts Avenue, and Slice Magazine, among others. Her short story, “Speculoos,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2016. Her debut novel, Willa & Hesper, was released by Grand Central Publishing in 2019 and was longlisted for a Jewish National Book Award. Her second novel, All the Things We Don’t Talk About, was published by Grand Central Publishing in 2022.

Jamie Asaye FitzGerald joined Poets & Writers in 2005. She is a Los Angeles-based hapa poet from Hawaii, who believes in the transformative power of writing and words in action. Prior to joining Poets & Writers, she worked in advertising and as an educator. She has an MFA in poetry fom San Diego State University and a BA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Southern California where she received an Academy of American Poets College Prize and the Edward Moses Poetry Prize.  Her poetry is published in The American Poetry Review, Works & Days, Mom Egg Review, and elsewhere, and has been included in anthologies such as Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes & Shifts in Los Angeles (Tia Chucha Press, 2016) and Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles & Beyond (Beyond Baroque/Pacific Coast Poetry Series, 2015).

India served as the 2019-2020 Diana & Simon Raab Editorial Fellow before rejoining Poets & Writers in this new capacity in September 2021. She received her BA from Columbia University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and is a recent MFA graduate from NYU's Creative Writing program, where she taught undergraduate students and received the Writers in the Public Schools Fellowship. Before Poets & Writers, India worked as an Assistant Publicist at HarperCollins and later as an Agent Assistant at the Anne Edelstein Literary Agency. Her work is published in PANK, Pigeon Pages, American Chordata, and Glass: A Journal of Poetry, among others. A 2020 National Poetry Series finalist and 2021 BOA Editions A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize semi-finalist, India is also a professionally trained dancer, choreographer, and actor. She currently lives in Harlem.

Melissa joined the Poets & Writers staff as managing director in January 2010; in 2021 she was appointed the organization’s executive director. Her previous roles include development director at Poets House from 2003 to 2006, where she helped to secure a secure a permanent home for the organization in Battery Park City, and consulting to help raise millions of dollars for a range of arts and cultural organizations, including Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect 1: New Orleans, and International Center of Photography. Early in her career, she assisted Poets & Writers in crafting grant proposals that secured funding to launch pw.org. Melissa holds a BFA from New York University.

Luciano joined Poets & Writers in May of 2023. He received his BA in English and Philosophy from Columbia University, after studying abroad his junior year as an Oxbridge Scholar, and is a recent MFA graduate from Brooklyn College's Creative Writing program, where he was selected as a winner of the 2023 Himan Brown Award in Poetry and contributed to The Brooklyn Review. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, he now lives in Brooklyn.

Ricardo was the 2016-17 McCrindle Foundation Readings & Workshops Fellow, before becoming the Program Assistant in June 2017. He earned his BA from Baruch College and holds an MFA in Poetry from Rutgers-Newark. A recipient of fellowships from Lambda Literary, Poets House, and the Vermont Studio Center, and a semifinalist for the 2019 Vinyl 45 Chapbook Contest, Ricardo’s work has appeared in Muzzle Magazine, Witness Magazine, Hyperallergic, and The Offing, among others. Born in Mexico City and raised in Queens, he now lives in Brooklyn.

Jared Jackson is a writer, editor, educator, and arts administrator born in Hartford, CT. He received an MFA in fiction from Columbia University, where he was a Chair's Fellow and Creative Writing Teaching Fellow. His writing has been published in the Best American Short Stories 2023, New York Times Book Review, Yale Review, Guernica, Kenyon Review, n+1, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. He has been awarded residencies, fellowships, and grants from MacDowell, Yaddo, Center for Fiction, Baldwin for the Arts, Tin House, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Writer's Block Residency, and the Granum Foundation. In 2022, he was named a New York Foundation for the Arts Executive Leader of Color. He has taught at Columbia University and elsewhere.

Jessica joined Poets & Writers in May 2014. She received her BA from the University of California in San Diego, studying Human Development and Literature Writing, and has lived in New York City since 2000. She has worked in online media for Spin, CNET, and the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit for children's mental health. She was selected to participate in the JET Programme in 2007, teaching English in Japan. Jessica has trained in the martial art of Shorinji Kempo for many years and enjoys performing and writing music, photography, and comedy. Her writing has appeared in Black Renaissance Noire, Midwestern Gothic, PANK, and Tribes.

Emma joined Poets & Writers in 2019. Previously, she served as senior editor at Tin House magazine and associate editor at Tin House Books. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from The New School, where she later taught English and advised 12th Street, the Riggio Honors Program's literary magazine. Her writing has appeared in Conjunctions, BookForum, Tin House, and Guernica. With the support of the Elizabeth George Foundation, she is at work on a novel about quantum physics, family, and the Alps.

Kevin has been with Poets & Writers since 1999; he became editor in chief in 2013. He is the coauthor of The Poets & Writers Complete Guide to Being a Writer: Everything You Need to Know About Craft, Inspiration, Agents, Editors, Publishing, and the Business of Building a Sustainable Writing Career (Avid Reader Press, 2020). He holds a degree in journalism and received his MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was the poetry editor of the Iowa Review. He has given presentations and appeared on a number of panels on publishing at events such as the Library of Congress National Book Festival, the Sozopol Fiction Seminars, the Anguilla Lit Fest, the Slice Literary Writer’s Conference, the Iceland Writers Retreat, the Kauai Writers Conference, the Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, Poets Forum, the Bronx Book Fair, and the Writer’s Hotel. His poems have appeared in Poetry International, Fence, Pleiades, Verse, and a dozen other literary magazines. He has written book reviews for American Letters & Commentary, American Book Review, Chelsea, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Tim joined Poets & Writers in 2008. He has published novel excerpts in A Public Space, one of which was re-published in the 2012 Pushcart Prize Anthology; another excerpt received special mention in the 2008 Pushcart Prize Anthology. He has been a Teaching-Writing Fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, an Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction, and a Residential Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the MacDowell Colony. He is at work on a novel.

Bea joined Poets & Writers in October of 2023. They are currently working on their BA in Comparative Literature with a Minor in Creative Writing at Stanford University where they will be graduating in 2024. Before coming to Poets & Writers, they worked at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Comparative Literature and Creative Writing departments at their school. In their free time, they are a K-pop fan, a writer of short stories, and a student theatermaker with the Asian American Theater Project.

Rachel joined Poets & Writers’ development and marketing team in 2011; she became Director of Development & Marketing in 2021 and Director of Development & Communicaitons in 2024. Her previous experience in the nonprofit arts sector includes roles with the Creative Capital Foundation and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Rachel has a background in visual art and is inspired by makers and storytellers of all types. She holds a BA from Bowdoin College and an MFA in Combined Media from Hunter College, and has received artist fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center, the Bronx Museum’s Artist in the Marketplace program, and Skowhegan.

Marva joined Poets & Writers in November 2022. She received her BS in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University, where she graduated magna cum laude. Before coming to Poets & Writers, Marva worked on several magazines and print publications, including Generasian, Pier To:, Antifragile, and Washington Square News. Beyond the world of print, Marva also has a background in digital video production, graphic design, and marketing. She is passionate about making the world a better place through the arts and spends her free time enjoying animated films, good food, and shared moments with friends.

DS Sulaitis is the recipient of three New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, in both fiction and creative nonfiction, and a recipient of a fiction grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation.

Her short stories have appeared several times in the Boston Review, once as the winner of their fiction contest, in addition to other literary magazines. She is completing a memoir and a book of short stories as well as working on a novel. She received a second-place prize in the 2022 American Short(er) Fiction contest. Her creative nonfiction was published in a W.W. Norton Anthology. In her spare time she is involved with bully breed dog rescue and lives with four pit bulls.

Jason joined the Poets & Writers staff in June 2019. He has more than years of experience in accounting and finance, including with non-profit organizations such as Planned Parenthood of New York City and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. He has an undergraduate degree in accounting from American International College and a master’s degree in professional accountancy from Southern University and A&M College. In his free time, Jason is a photographer and enjoys capturing the human spirit through his camera lens.