pwn teen lit fest: voice & verse

Khushreet Kaur Bhatia is a college student from India currently studying food and nutrition. She has always been enthusiastic about writing and expressing herself through words. Khushreet began interning with Project Write Now last summer and co-teaches in our PWN India Writing Club. She is also co-host of PWN Teen’s new teen talk show, Off the Page. Khushreet loves learning new skills and is enjoying Graphic Design. Writing has been and always will be her one true love.

Isabel Cruz is a 20-year-old diasporican poet and playwright from Paterson, New Jersey. She is currently completing a Bachelor’s Degree in American Studies and English creative writing with a focus in fine arts. Inspirations include Porscha O and Sandra Cisneros. She has been a featured poet at venues such as the Newark Arts Festival and Prototype 237 and has performed alongside artists such as Rashad Wright, Talena Lachelle Queen, Rescue Poetix, and Ameerah Bilal Shabazz. Upcoming projects include her freshman untitled chapbook and collaboration with the Paterson Poetry Festival.

Writer, spoken word artist, and mentor Philip J. Curtis is a native of New York with roots in Jamaica West Indies, who arrived on the Colorado Springs poetry scene in 2006 bringing with him a brand of New York City straightforwardness and swag along with the sensual sun of Jamaica West Indies. Curtis aka Midnight has facilitated poetry workshops at various high schools and colleges. He is a founding member of Hear Here Poetry and in 2009 he established Poetry 719 on Facebook to foster and support the freedom of self-expression in spoken and written word through community connections, education, and poetic unity for all ages. You can stay updated with Philip J. Curtis aka Midnight via his website: www.midnightpoet00.com and midnightpoet00 on IG.

Laura Cypher’s passion for writing began in her teens and has continued to inform every aspect of her life since then. She has taught English and creative writing in classrooms, workshops, and the homeschool setting. Recently, in caring for and teaching a toddler, her obsession with the imagination has been reinvigorated—the innate wonder of it, why it’s essential to cultivate it, and how we work together to keep it alive. She is a multi-genre writer but considers poetry her first love and the genre that taught her how to synthesize and organize language: to craft image, energy, and tension to create a particular experience for the reader. As a writing teacher at Project Write Now, her top priority is to provide a safe and enriching environment in which her students can move beyond self-criticism to self-expression, and explore the untamed world of their imaginations. Laura has her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She has been published in The San Diego Poetry Annual and lives in Southwest Virginia with her two dog-children.

Vivian DeRosa is a writer, blogger, and current student at Smith College. She worked as a Project Write Now intern for two years before founding the Teen Writing Group. She believes that writing and community go hand in hand, and she’s passionate about creating a space where everyone can share their story. She is a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and an Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow, and her writing has been published in the Huffington Post, Poets Reading the News, and Lunch Ticket. Currently, she’s working on a novel. When she’s not teaching, Vivian likes reading excellent books and watching terrible TV. You can find her at vivianparkinderosa.com, where she blogs about all things literary.

Nathalia Garcia is an English-education major studying to one day become a high school English teacher. Aside from taking several classes at Project Write Now, she has begun teaching in PWN’s afterschool programs, including working with the students at Red Bank Middle School and Knollwood Public School. Born in the spring, she often picks pretty flowers and, overcome with their loveliness, pops them into her mouth and eats them! She seeks connection through poetry and what she likes to call haunted prose. Nathalia currently resides in Long Branch with a loving partner, their cat, and 100+ houseplants.

Pamela A. Major is the creator and founder of Melia Bloom, a lifestyle services company that empowers people, places, and purpose. Major has a profound belief that in taking the adventure to grow we can always have the delight and opportunity to be better. Major is a dynamic speaker, author, playwright, storyteller, and empowerment coach. She has a unique ability to put into context the needs of an organization or individual and provides practical insights to help them achieve and succeed. One of Major’s most prominent programs is the Viral Vision Adventure (Vi-VA).

Maggie Olszewski is from Columbia, South Carolina. She was named one of The Poetry Society’s Top 15 Foyle Young Poets of 2018 with her poem, “At The Funeral.” Her chapbook “Laika” was published in 2021 by Black Sunflowers Poetry Press. She is currently a junior at Smith College, double majoring in English and Film & Media Studies.