Instructor Biographies

Alice B. Acheson draws on decades of experience in the publishing field -- working with large and small publishers, negotiating book contracts, selling subsidiary rights, and editing and publicizing books -- to guide you in making this crucial decision.  Her work as a publicist has been recognized with a Literary Market Place award, and many New York Times bestsellers, including four simultaneously.

Jim Bernhard has two novels, a book of poetry, and numerous songs to his publishing credit and has taught creative writing for 30 years.  He has taught workshops through the University of Washington.  He is also a blues/jazz musician.

Pat Brunjes has taught speech and writing for 40 years at both the high school and college level. She has a doctorate in Educational Leadership.  She has won poetry contests and will be published this fall through the Washington Poetry Association Cascade book and Writing on Whidbey.  Pat is working on a chap book and a novel.

Lorraine Healy was born and raised in Argentina, and has lived in Washington for the last 12 years. The winner of several national awards, including a Pushcart Prize nomination for 2004, her poetry has been published extensively. She holds an M.F.A in Poetry from New England College, New Hampshire, where she studied with Gerald Stern, Maxine Kumin, Alicia Ostriker, and Michael Waters, among others. Lorraine is the author of The Farthest South (New American Press, 1 st Prize, 2003) and The Archipelago (Finishing Line Press, 2004).Lorraine is an experienced teacher, a passionate reader and writer of poetry who shares her contagious enthusiasm with students of poetry.

Deb Lund is the author of Dinosailors, All Aboard the Dinotrain, Tell Me My Story, Mama and other books for children. She has extensive experience teaching writing to students, teachers, and writers. Deb frequently presents at writers' conferences, including SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) conferences and retreats. She's passionate about helping others reach their goals. Visit Deb at www.deblund.com.

Gail Madden is the past president of the Whidbey Island Writers Association and a retired health care administrator.  Her fiction has appeared in anthologies produced by the Whidbey Writers Group and has won awards at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference as well as the Sno-Isle Library-WIWA Spirit of Writing Contest.  Her poetry has been read on NPR’s Tree-house Productions.  She is currently completing a novel and is working on several short stories.

Barbara Moran spent over 20 years in mainstream news (editor of a city magazine and a weekly newspaper; on-air radio news reporter; staff writer for the San Diego Union and the Atlanta Constitution). In the mid '90s, she entered new media, working for two search engines as an online editor. She has freelanced extensively for newspapers, magazines and online publications. In 1990, she founded The Special Species Project, a writing project for children http://www.specialspecies.com/ that is now run in partnership with WIWA. Moran has self-published five nonfiction books and published two nonfiction books through two major publishing houses. Her latest book, Crafting Multimedia Text: Websites and Presentations (Prentice Hall), explores differences between print-based and online writing. She teaches Media, Journalism, and English at Skagit Valley College's South Whidbey Center (Ken's Corner). Visit her Web site at http://www.MsBMoran.com

Peggy Shumaker is the author of several books of poetry and her recent memoir Just Breathe Normally.  She won a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and several awards for teaching. She served as Poet in Residence at the Stadler Center for Poetry at Bucknell University and as President of the Board of Directors of the Associated Writing Programs. Professor emerita from University of Alaska Fairbanks, Shumaker was Chair of the English Department and Director of the M.F.A. program in Creative Writing.

Tom Trimbath is the author of the series of nature essays Twelve Months at Barclay Lake, Twelve Months at Lake Valhalla, and Twelve Months at Merritt Lake, and the cultural essay Just Keep Pedaling (stories learned from bicycling across America). He is also a photographer, self-publisher, martial artist, and ex-engineer, which means that his joy for public speaking can cover many points of view and experiences.

Wayne Ude, M.F.A. is the author of Becoming Coyote, Buffalo and other stories, Maybe I Will Do Something:  Seven Tales of Coyote (for ages ten and up), and the fine press limited edition Three Coyote Tales. His stories have appeared in Ploughshares, North American Review, and The Last Good Place, among others. After receiving an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Massachusetts, he taught creative writing and directed writing programs at universities for 17 years. Since 1993 he's lived, written, and taught on Whidbey Island, in addition to teaching writing through correspondence and online courses. He is partner of Blue & Ude Writers’ Services and the Director of the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Program.

Susan Zwinger, M.F.A., Ph.D., has a Master's in poetry through the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, where she worked closely with Richard Hugo. Susan graduated with honors from Cornell College in art and English, and earned a doctorate from Pennsylvania State University. She wrote The Last Wild Edge, Stalking the Ice Dragon and Still Wild, Always Wild. She co-authored Women In Wilderness with her mother, Ann Haymond Zwinger. Susan's book Hanford Reach was recently published to great critical acclaim. She teaches for the North Cascades Institute, Audubon, The Nature Conservancy and the Whidbey Writers Workshop. Susan keeps elaborate illustrated journals and teaches journalling and writing seminars from Alaska to Colorado.