About Us:
Our Team
Clive Matson
Founder, Editor-in-Chief Clive Matson began his writing career among the Beat Generation in New York City in the 1960s, mentored by Allen Ginsberg, Herbert Huncke, John Wieners, and Diane di Prima. He received his MFA from Columbia University in 1989. Clive has published nine volumes of poetry, numerous articles in literary journals, and the writing textbook Let the Crazy Child Write! He participated in the European Beat Studies Network Conference in Paris, 2017, where he gave the premier performance of his newest work, Hello, Paradise. Paradise, Goodbye. He was the recipient of the Pen Oakland “Josephine Miles National Literary Award” in 2004 and the East Bay Express “Best Writing Teacher” award in 2006. In 2012 the City of Berkeley honored Clive with their “Lifetime Achievement Award in Poetry.” More at matsonpoet.com. |
Victor Owens
Director, President & Contributing Videographer Victor Owens lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a photographer, videographer, and sole owner of Eye Art Digital Media, a local professional photography and videography service that specializes in capturing the talents of artists engaged in their crafts, providing visual presentations of special events, portraiture, musical performances, dance, theater, spoken word, and nature programs. |
Taya Vasilyeva
Director, Secretary & Managing Editor Taya Vasilyeva, a Russian-American poet, believes that exceptional writing can take many forms, as long as it originates from the depths of an honest, vulnerable, and inclusive soul. In her poetic journey, she finds that end rhyme isn't just a building block; it's the pulsating rhythm that propels her verses, a vivid canvas for the myriad emotions she breathes into her art. |
Eroldi Idlore
Director, Treasurer & Website Manager Eroldi Idlore writes poetry and prose that explores the written process within self-reflective environments. Their themes emulate curiosity, story-telling and conscious questioning of the world that is shared specifically through written language. They personally adhere towards themes which penetrate the fourth wall of our very existence as writers and readers. @makelikeitall |
Tressa Berman
Advisor As a longtime student and collaborator with Clive Matson, Tressa Berman, Ph.D., is proud to serve as an Advisor to Wordswell. She has published two non-fiction books, poetry chapbooks, art essays, and countless academic articles she hopes someone has read. Current works-in-progress include Postcards from Indian Country, USA and My Life as Faye, an “inspired-by” fictional memoir for the page and stage. She is the recipient of Rockefeller and Mellon Fellowships, and received the 2022 Judy Chicago Art Education Award. Her poems have appeared in The Walrus Literary Journal, South Ash Press, Sharksreef, anthologies with the Los Angeles Poets and Writers Collective and with the San Francisco 23rd Street Poets. She has received recognitions from the Ventura Poetry Project, the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, and the Jack Grapes Poetry Prize. Her writing has been supported by residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Fine Arts Work Center and Dorland Arts Colony. |
Dawn Bratton
Advisor Dawn Bratton lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes poetry that orbits the image of eyes and theme of perception as the gateway to the universe of experience. Her work seeks to expand the horizon of perception of the field of experience, and to reconcile the seeming contradictions within that area of illumination, in the hopes of giving and receiving an increasingly widened and integrated vision of subjective experience. Her work has recently appeared in Oracle, Matter, The Opiate, Modern Literature, The Metaworker, Global Poemic, and Disquiet Arts, among other literary journals. Visit her at dawnbratton.com. |
Rachaell Gabrielle
Associate Editor Rachaell Gabrielle grew up in Hawaii and the Pacific NW, wandering into the wilderness. The lull of the ocean and the majesty of mountains juxtapose humility and exaltation in her life. Her philosophy is to enact and model a deep love and awe for the world, to feel content with a smidgen of understanding while paradoxically not fixing it. She has studied Philosophy|Ethics, English as a Second Language, and English. Rachaell has worked in education at the University and State levels. And as a wilderness guide in Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. |
Angelina Tolstykh
Contributing Videographer Angelina Tolstykh is a freelance videographer and photographer based in Novosibirsk, Russia. She is mostly known for her experimental projects of intimate and provocative fusion style. In the last few years Angelina has worked on a variety of projects, mostly for nonprofit and arts organizations. She also has created music videos, commercial projects, video portraits, social ads, and poetry videos. “I see the beauty in raw emotion and energy that a person exhumes. Every body is perfect.” |
Archive of Previous Members:
Robin Christine Honigsberg
Social Media Manager
Spring 2023 - Fall 2024
Dawn Bratton
Secretary, Vice President
Summer 2022 - Summer 2023
Georgina Marie Guardado
President
Summer 2022 - Summer 2023
Brenda Yeager
Secretary
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023
Jennifer Mills Kerr
Secretary, Treasurer
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023
Bhavana Gesota
Associate Editor
Fall 2022 - Summer 2023
Risa Peris
Treasurer
Summer 2022 - Fall 2022