Our Team

Yasmine Badaoui is a poet, mother and fiction writer based out of Dearborn, Michigan. Her work has appeared in PrettyCoolPoetryThings, the RedFez, Cliterature and others. Her work centrals around the Lebanese diaspora, womanhood, and the trials and tribulations of being a Muslim with Appalachian heritage and surprisingly not her Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Iowa State. As a member of the Room Project in Detroit, Yasmine believes that cultivating safe spaces for expression is vital for the growth of artists at any age. When she isn’t foam-sword fighting with her boys or reading books you can find her reading poetry around the city.

Christiana Castillo is an educator, activist, urban gardener and writer. She holds an undergraduate degree from Wayne State University where she obtained an English major with a co-major in peace and conflict studies and resolution. Christiana serves as a board member for the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights. She recently finished writing a bilingual children’s book titled A Town Called Hope, which focuses on community and environmental justice. Most of her teachings focus on social justice and peace and conflict resolution. In her free time she enjoys making collages, doodling and reading. She loves her cats and all things sunflowers.

Kelly Fordon’s work has appeared in The Florida Review, The Kenyon Review (KRO), Rattle and various other journals. Her novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, was chosen as a Michigan Notable Book, an Indiefab Finalist and a Midwest Book Award Finalist, among others. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks. On the Street Where We Live, a one-act play adapted from her poetry was chosen for the 2018 Dream Up Festival in New York. Her first full-length poetry collection will be published by Kattywompus Press in 2019. She teaches at the College for Creative Studies and InsideOut Literary Arts in Detroit. www.kellyfordon.com.

Justin Groppuso-Cook is a poet, musician, and Metro Detroit native. He holds a BA in both English (Creative Writing) and Arts & Humanities from Michigan State University. While attending MSU, he served as a mentor for the Indigenous Youth Empowerment Program, Writing Consultant for the MSU Writing Center, Outreach Assistant at the Center for Poetry, and Assistant Editor of Poetry for Red Cedar Review. His poems have appeared in Duende, Foliate Oak, Polaris, Mangrove Journal, Susquehanna Review, among others. In 2016, he served as a Youth Programmer at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiú, New Mexico. He now resides in Detroit writing/performing poetry, creating community, and playing keys for his band Asklepius.

Living in Detroit, Nadine Marshall is a poet, avid reader, collaborator, and curator with an MSW and B.S. in Psychology/African American Studies. Their work intimately explores the intersection of being genderless, black, and queer – asking what was to lead to what is. Nadine is interested in using literary art, poetry specifically, to build communities with radical hope and love. Their words have reached the audiences of TEDxUofM, The National Poetry Slam, The Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam, CUPSI, the ShadeJournal, and Freezeray Poetry Journal.

Anita Schmaltz – painter, photographer, writer and singer-songwriter – earned a BFA from College for Creative Studies for painting and a Masters of Creative Writing from Wayne State University in Detroit, the city where she was born. She’s written reviews and articles on performing arts for the Metro Times Weekly. In 2000 she began teaching creative writing in Detroit public schools through InsideOut Literary Arts. Her words, artwork and music project [TeleVision Faerie Tale] appear recurrently in Detroit. Photo by © Photo Punk

Naidra Walls is a​n​ ​artist, educator, and real estate agent. ​Their current projects include assisting Michigan residents in purchasing a home or business as a real estate agent, and the launch of a black creative guild that will connect creative entrepreneurs of color in the lgbtq community to necessary resources for success. Walls also contracts with organizations in Michigan for administrative work, graphic design projects, fund development, grant writing, and website management. ​Their academic background includes an undergraduate and a graduate degree from Western Michigan University in Marketing and Public Administration.