About Us:
Our Team
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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. |
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Taya Vasilyeva
Director & 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. |
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Victor Owens
Director & 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. |
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Eroldi Idlore
Director & Website Curator Eroldi Idlore's love for music turned into an affair with poetry around the end of the 13th Baktun. They began self-publishing albums and chapbooks in 2015 as Make Like It All, which they still use through platforms like Instagram, Soundcloud, Bandcamp and Medium. Their artistic style is reflective of introspection and self-discovery, as well as symbolism and interpretive story. |
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Robin Christine Honigsberg
Social Media Manager & Associate Editor Robin Christine Honigsberg is a writer who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her writing explores living with mental illness, as well as opinion pieces, personal narratives, poetry, memoirs and short stories. She graduated from Concordia University with a B.A. in Psychology, from McGill University with a Graduate Certificate in Mental Health & Illness, and then from Cegep Marie-Victorin with an Accreditation in Speech-Language Pathology, as a Language Intervention Technician. Her writing has been published in the First Fruits Anthology and online at Medium, Vocal, and Substack. She is currently working on preparing her first collection of poems for publication, as well as writing her first novella. |
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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. |
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Brenda Yeager
Secretary Brenda Yeager is a poet and writer living in Northern California. Her work appears in The Bloom and the Noyo Review. She is a finalist for the 2022 Jane Underwood Poetry Prize, judged by Sharan Strange. Currently, she is listening with curiosity and wonder as her first full-length poetry collection gathers itself to the page. Working title: Torch Song // Transcendental. |
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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. |
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Angelina Tolstykh (she/her)
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.” |
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Archive of Previous Members:
Bhavana Gesota
Associate Editor
Fall 2022 - Summer 2023
Dawn Bratton
Secretary, Vice President
Summer 2022 - Summer 2023
Georgina Marie Guardado
President
Summer 2022 - Summer 2023
Jennifer Mills Kerr
Secretary, Treasurer
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023
Risa Peris
Treasurer
Summer 2022 - Fall 2022
Associate Editor
Fall 2022 - Summer 2023
Dawn Bratton
Secretary, Vice President
Summer 2022 - Summer 2023
Georgina Marie Guardado
President
Summer 2022 - Summer 2023
Jennifer Mills Kerr
Secretary, Treasurer
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023
Risa Peris
Treasurer
Summer 2022 - Fall 2022
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