Karelia has taught writing for fifteen years, including ten years as tenured faculty at Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon. She loves watching her students find their voices. She believes in the power of writing to transform lives. She writes every day and encourages her students to do the same. Her mantra as a teacher and a writer comes from Mary Oliver who said, “Writing is like going on a date. Nothing happens if you don’t show up.” Karelia has a BA in comparative lit

Anna Burke is the Writing Academy Director of Education. She is also the award-winning author of Compass Rose, Thorn, Nottingham, Night Tide, and Spindrift. Her latest novel, Sea Wolf, will be released by Bywater Books in July 2021. She teaches creative writing at Emerson College, where she received her MFA. When she is not reading, writing, or teaching, she can be found walking the woods with her dog. She and her wife live in Massachusetts. Link Twitter Instagram #biography