Faculty Bios

We proudly offer the bios of our accomplished teachers.

Siobhan Adcock is the author of the novels The Completionist (Simon & Schuster) and The Barter (Dutton), and the humor books 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 and Hipster Haiku (both Broadway Books). Her short stories, essays, and humor have appeared in McSweeney's, Ms. magazine, the Lascaux Review, Scientific American, TriQuarterly, Literary Hub, Salon, the Florida Review, The Massachusetts Review, and anthologized in Not Like I’m Jealous or Anything. She has served as an editor at Random House, and has taught at Cornell University, the Columbia Publishing Course, Voices from War, and the Auburn Federal Correctional Facility. She holds a BA and an MFA in Fiction Writing, both from Cornell University.

Rita Chang-Eppig is the author of the novel Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea (Bloomsbury). Her short fiction has been selected for Best American Short Stories and published in Midnight Breakfast, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, the Rumpus, Clarkesworld, the Virginia Quarterly Review, the Santa Monica Review, Conjunctions, and the Kenyon Review Online, among others. She received a Steinbeck Fellowship from the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University, and she has taught for the University of San Francisco and the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. She holds a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Fiction from New York University.

Holley Cornetto is the author of the horror novel They Are Cursed Like You (Eerie River Publishing) and the novella We Haunt These Woods (Bleeding Edge Books). Her short fiction has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Flame Tree Press Newsletter, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Collective Realms Magazine, among many others. Her stories have been anthologized in A Woman Built by Man (Cemetery Gates Media), AFTER: A Post-Apocalyptic Survivor Series (Eerie River Publishing), and Banned (Black Hare Press), among others. She writes the Horror Tree's weekly newsletter, is a regular reviewer for Booklist, Ginger Nuts of Horror, and the Horror Tree, and she has taught at Southern New Hampshire University, Passaic County Community College, and the County College of Morris. She holds a BA from William Paterson University, an MLIS from San Jose State University, and an MFA in Fiction from Lindenwood University.

Ananda Naima González has published short fiction in BOMB, Catapult, Lampblack, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, and the Southern Review, and her nonfiction has appeared on PEN America and in Man Repeller. She has worked for The Wylie Agency, Hachette Book Group, and as a writing mentor for the Young Artists Language and Devotion Alliance. She has taught at Armory College Prep, New York University, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She holds a BA in Poetry and an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University.

Varud Gupta is the author of the graphic novel Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love and the nonfiction travel memoir Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan: Food of the Gods (both Penguin Random House). His food and travel articles have appeared in National Geographic and America's Test Kitchen, among others, and his short graphic fiction has appeared in Comixense and Inklab. He has worked as head of originals for the production studio Resting Kitsch Face, and taught for the Indian Institute of Art and Design. He holds a BS from New York University.

Cleve Lamison is the author of the science fiction novel Full-Blood Half-Breed (Penguin Random House), and he is a contributing writer to Suvudu.com, a science fiction and fantasy blog at Random House. He is a staff writer for the television show Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy (Urban Movie Channel), and he wrote and directed the feature film Following Bliss, which won Best Feature Film at the Global Arts International Film Festival. His short film "The Story" won the Denver World Film Festival, and his short film "Jack for President" was a runner-up in the New York 24-Hour Filmmaking Contest. He was the artistic director of the BlackBird Theatre Company in NYC; created, wrote, and drew the cartoon strip Rick the Roach for the Richmond News Leader; and is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves. He holds a BA from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ken Liu is the author of the Dandelion Dynasty series of fantasy novels (Saga Press), and his short story “The Paper Menagerie” is the first to win the Nebula, the Hugo, and the World Fantasy awards. He is the author of the short story collections The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (both Saga Press), and of the Star Wars novel The Legends of Luke Skywalker (Disney LucasFilm Press). He is the editor and translator of the anthologies Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation, and Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation (both Tor Books). His short story “Good Hunting” was adapted as an episode of the television series Love, Death + Robots (Netflix), and several of his short stories have been adapted into the series Pantheon (AMC). He holds a BA from Harvard University.

Carolyn MacCullough is the author of the young adult novels Falling Through Darkness, a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age, Stealing Henry, Drawing the Ocean (all Roaring Brook Press)and the fantasy Witch series (Graphia). She has taught at the New School. She holds a BA from Grinnell College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School.

Michaela Roessner is the author of the science fiction novels The Stars Compel, The Stars Dispose, Vanishing Point (all Tor Books) and the fantasy novel Walkabout Woman. Her short stories have appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, OMNI Magazine, Strange Plasma, Room Magazine, and the anthologies Conqueror Fantastic, Intersections, and Full Spectrum2. She has taught at the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and Western State Colorado University. She holds a BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts and an MFA in Popular Fiction from the University of Southern Maine/Stonecoast Creative Writing program.