Ryane Nicole Granados

Ryane Nicole Granados has always called Los Angeles her home and her writing finds its roots in her love of her community. She is inspired to write stories of survival that magnify the marginalized while also unearthing the splendor of second chances. Ryane earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles and she was named the 2021 Established Writer and Individual Arts Fellow by the California Arts Council. Currently, Ryane teaches at Loyola Marymount University where she also serves as the Associate Director of the Academic Resource Center and Writing Center. Her literary work has been featured in various publications including Pangyrus, The Manifest-Station, High Country News, The Atticus Review, and LA Parent Magazine. Her storytelling has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and showcased in KPCC’s live series Unheard LA.​

More information: https://www.ryanenicolegranados.com

PJ Manney

PJ Manney is the author of the bestselling and Philip K. Dick Award nominated Phoenix Horizon trilogy, (R)EVOLUTION, (ID)ENTITY, and (CON)SCIENCE. Her ghost story “Ours” appeared in the 2021 anthology, DECEMBER TALES. She is on the board of directors of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, is the futurist, media consultant and writer/producer for the Human Energy Project, and runs The New Mythos Project. A former chairperson of Humanity Plus, she helped rebrand the organization, launch H+ Magazine and organize the first multi-org conference on futurist topics, Convergence ’08. She authored “Yucky Gets Yummy: How Speculative Fiction Creates Society”​ and “Empathy in the Time of Technology: How Storytelling is the Key to Empathy,”​ foundational works on the neuropsychology of empathy and media.

More information: https://www.pjmanney.com/

Sarah Rafael Garcia

Sarah Rafael García is an award-winning author, artist and multimedia literary arts advocate with over 15 years of experience. She earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Fiction and cognate in Media Studies from Texas State University. As a child of immigrants and a first-generation university graduate, she knows first-hand what it means to fail and triumph in life. Her first book Las Niñas (2008) speaks to her loss and upbringing, and her second book, SanTana’s Fairy Tales (2017), is part of an oral history multimedia exhibition awarded by the Andy Warhol Foundation, and most recently a required Ethnic Studies text in the Santa Ana Unified School District. She has co-edited various anthologies, including pariahs: writing from outside the margins (2016) and Speculative Fiction for Dreamers (2021), among other publications. García is founder of the LibroMobile Arts Cooperative (LMAC) including Barrio Writers (2009), LibroMobile (2016) and Crear Studio (2017). In 2023, she was honored as a Woman of Distinction by State Senator Tom J. Umberg and a Kickass Woman by Orange Coast Magazine.

More information: https://www.cuentosmobile.com/

Jen Cheng

Jen Cheng is the Fifth West Hollywood City Poet Laureate, the author of Braided Spaces, and a multidisciplinary storyteller who amplifies under-represented voices. Jen is the founder of Palabras Literary Salon, celebrating BIPOC poets and writers, and a 2023 California Arts Council Fellow. Jen blends East-West cultural influences in a new form, Feng Shui Poetry. With stories for tween audiences, mystery detective fans, and queer love, Jen is a cross-pollinator. She is a filmmaker with a documentary project celebrating LGBTQ Elders. She can be found on Twitter/IG @JenCvoice.

More information: www.JenCvoice.com