2026 Faculty
[to be inserted]
Past Faculty:
Summer 2024
[For these, perhaps we can have it so only the first two lines of the bio appears with the option to click to read more since these are pretty long?]
[Photos of each are in a separate email]
Fiction Workshop Leader
Janika Oza
Janika Oza is the author of the novel A History of Burning, an instant national bestseller in Canada and a New York Times Notable Book of 2023. She is the winner of a 2022 O. Henry Award and the 2020 Kenyon Review Short Fiction Award. Her stories and essays have appeared in publications such as BOMB Magazine, The New York Times, The Best Small Fiction 2019 Anthology, and Prairie Schooner, among others. She is an assistant editor at The Rumpus and lives in Toronto.
photo: Yi Shi
Nonfiction Workshop Leader
Zahra Hankir
Zahra Hankir is a journalist, editor and author who writes about the intersection of politics, culture and society. Her work has appeared in publications including Teen Vogue, Town and Country, Condé Nast Traveler, The Observer Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and The Rumpus. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship to attend the Columbia Journalism School and holds degrees in politics and Middle Eastern studies. Her first book, Our Women on the Ground, was a collection of essays by Arab women reporting from the Arab world. Her second book, Eyeliner: A Cultural History, was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ pick. She currently resides in Brooklyn.
Photo: Beowulf Sheehan
Distinguished Guest Prose Editor
Joseph Schneider
Joseph Schneider is the author of the critically acclaimed Tully Jarsdel mysteries. The second in the series, What Waits for You, was named Best of the Month by Apple Books and earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. He has sold multiple television concepts and is currently penning the entire first season of a new police procedural.
Joseph's talents extend far beyond the written word: He has attended Sideshow School at the historic Coney Island Midway, studying escapology, fire-eating, and other arcane arts of the American carnival. When magic gigs were scarce, Joseph supplemented his income by teaching competitive ballroom dance, and earning an associate degree from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. He served as a Teaching Fellow while earning his MFA in creative nonfiction.
He is also a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Crime Writers’ Association, the Academy of Magical Arts, and the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards.
Distinguished Guest Prose Editor
Rasheed Newson
Rasheed Newson is the author of My Government Means to Kill Me, which examines the political and sexual coming of age of a young, gay, Black man in New York City in the mid-1980s. The novel was a Lambda Literary finalist for Gay Fiction and was named one of the “The 100 Notable Books of 2022” by The New York Times. Rasheed is also a television drama writer, producer, and showrunner. Along with his television writing partner, T.J. Brady, he co-developed and is an executive producer of the drama series Bel-Air. Rasheed and T.J. have also worked on The Chi, Animal Kingdom, and Narcos, among other drama series. Rasheed lives with his husband and their two children in Pasadena, California.
Distinguished Visiting Agent
Jim McCarthy
Jim McCarthy is a VP and senior agent at the New York Agency Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. As an avid fiction reader, his interests encompass both literary and commercial works in the adult, young adult, and middle grade categories. He is particularly interested in literary fiction, underrepresented voices, fantasy, mysteries, romance, anything unusual or unexpected, and any book that makes him cry or laugh out loud. In addition to fiction he is also interested in narrative nonfiction whether it be memoir, history, or pop culture.
Summer 2023
Aamina Ahmad: Fiction workshop Recanati, July 2023
Aamina Ahmad has received a Stegner Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and a Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award. Her short fiction has been widely published, and she is the author of a play, The Dishonored. Her first novel, The Return of Faraz Ali, was published by Riverhead and was an NYT Editor's Choice pick and a finalist for the New American Voice Award. She lives in Minneapolis and teaches at the University of Minnesota.
Joseph Schneider: Visiting Prose Editor Recanati, July 2023
Joseph Schneider is the author of the critically acclaimed Tully Jarsdel mysteries. The second in the series, What Waits for You, was named Best of the Month by Apple Books and earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. He has sold multiple television concepts and is currently penning the entire first season of a new police procedural. Joseph's talents extend far beyond the written word: He has attended Sideshow School at the historic Coney Island Midway, studying escapology, fire-eating, and other arcane arts of the American carnival. When magic gigs were scarce, Joseph supplemented his income by teaching competitive ballroom dance, and earning an associate degree from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. He served as a Teaching Fellow while earning his MFA in creative nonfiction. He is also a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Crime Writers’ Association, the Academy of Magical Arts, and the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards.
Liz Alterman: Visiting Prose Editor Recanati, July 2023
Liz Alterman is the author of the domestic suspense novel, The Perfect Neighborhood, the young adult thriller, He’ll Be Waiting, and the memoir, Sad Sacked. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and other publications. Liz was named Humor Writer of the Month by the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop in November 2021. She lives in New Jersey.
Miriam Goderich: Visiting Agent Recanati, July 2023
Miriam Goderich is a partner at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, LLC, a New York based literary agency with an impressive and diverse client list. She and Jane Dystel work closely as an agenting team to generate book ideas, help create book proposals, place projects with publishing companies, and negotiate all contracts pertaining to publishing and subsidiary rights. In addition, Miriam is an insightful editor who has been responsible for developing numerous fiction and non-fiction projects from the conceptual stage to publication. Miriam’s areas of interest include: literary and commercial fiction as well as some genre fiction, narrative nonfiction, pop culture, psychology, history, science, art, business books, and biography/memoir. Miriam received a BA in Comparative Literature and an MA in English from Columbia University.
Stephanie Gangi: Visiting Prose Editor Recanati, July 2023
Stephanie Gangi’s award-winning work includes fiction, essays, and poetry. Her acclaimed debut novel, The Next, was published by St. Martin’s Press. Carry the Dog, her second novel, was completed at the Leopardi Writing Conference in 2019 and published by Algonquin Books in 2021. The shorter work has appeared in both print and online literary magazines. Gangi is a developmental editor and writing coach. She lives in New York City and is at work on her third novel, The Good Provider.
Summer 2022
Jonathan Moore: Fiction workshop Recanati, July 2022
Jonathan Moore is a former bar owner, a criminal defense investigator and an English teacher who is now an attorney practicing throughout the Pacific. His novels include The Poison Artist, The Dark Room, The Night Market, and, writing as James Kestrel, the Edgar Award winning Five Decembers. His works have earned universal acclaim from such luminaries as Stephen King, James Patterson, Pico Iyer, and Dennis Lehane.
Samina Ali: Nonfiction workshop Recanati, July 2022
Samina Ali is an award-winning author, curator, and popular speaker. Her debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days (Farrar, Straus, Giroux), was the winner of France’s prestigious Prix Premier Roman Etranger Award and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in Fiction. Poets & Writers Magazine named it a Top Debut of the Year. In the critically acclaimed global exhibition, Muslima: Muslim Women’s Art & Voices, Samina presents a groundbreaking collection of thought pieces and artwork from contemporary Muslim women who are defining their own identities and, in the process, shattering pervasive stereotypes. Samina has spoken extensively at a wide range of universities, from Harvard and Yale Universities to community colleges, as well as at other institutions worldwide, including as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department and a featured presenter at the Nobel Women’s Initiative 2017 International Conference. The recipient of fiction awards from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, she has been featured in The Economist, The Guardian, Vogue, National Public Radio (NPR) and elsewhere. Continuing in the spirit of her widely popular Tedx talk , “What Does the Qur’an Really Say about a Muslim Woman’s Hijab?”, Samina is currently writing a nonfiction book that weaves her personal story with a passionate appeal for women’s equality and justice.
Sharon Pelletier: Visiting Agent Recanati, July 2022
Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, Sharon Pelletier moved to New York in 2009 and joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 2013 after working for Europa Editions and Barnes & Noble. While her interests are broad, Sharon is especially seeking upmarket fiction where a literary focus on craft meets a commercial attention to a propulsive plot, with realistic, fully developed characters whose emotional tensions are relatable even when their circumstances are unusual. Favorite fiction categories include suspense and book club fiction. On the nonfiction side Sharon is eager for compelling, fierce narrative nonfiction by journalists, experts, and emerging voices with a growing platform. In all categories she particularly welcomes marginalized voices.
Summer 2019
Lou Berney: Fiction workshop, Recanti July 2019
Lou Berney is the bestselling author of several novels, including November Road, one of the Washington Post’s Best Books of 2018, and The Long and Faraway Gone, winner of an Edgar Award. His short fiction has appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. He teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Oklahoma City University.
Christine O’Brien: Nonfiction workshop Recanati, July 2019
Christine O’Brien is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir Crave. The book has been praised as being “emotionally fraught,” “compelling,” and “thoroughly engaging,” while also earning praise from The New York Times for its ability to capture her father’s creative brilliance and her mother’s pioneering spirit with “loving generosity.” O’Brien earned a BA in English at UC Berkeley and holds a Double MFA in Nonfiction and Fiction. Her essay “Cul de Sac” received Honorable Mention in the Glimmer Train 2014 Short Story Award for New Writers, and her essays and short stories have appeared in The Seneca Review and The Slush Pile Magazine.
Lynn Freed: Visiting Prose Editor Recanati, July 2019
Lynn Freed is the author of seven novels, a collection of stories, and two collections of essays. Five of her books were named New York Times Notable Books of theYear, and one a best book of the year by Times Literary Supplement. Critics called Freed’s work “dead-on brilliant,” “hilariously funny,” “acutely observant,” “astute, frank, and pitch-perfect.” Jonathan Yardley, critic for The Washington Post Book World, had this to say about her first collection of essays: “To the tiny list of necessary books for people who aspire to the writing life—Mystery and Manners, by Flannery O’Connor, and One Writer’s Beginnings, by Eudora Welty—must now be added Reading, Writing, and Leaving Home.” The New York Times Book Review called her last book of essays, The Romance of Elsewhere, “a marvelous collection.” Freed’s short fiction and essays have appeared in Harper’s, The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly, among many others. She was the recipient of the inaugural Katherine Anne Porter Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two O. Henry Awards, and she received fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Guggenheim Foundation, among others. Freed grew up in South Africa, before coming to the U.S. as a graduate student at Columbia University, where she received an MA and PhD in English Literature.
Patricia Hampl: Visiting Prose Editor Recanati, July 2019
Patricia Hampl’s most recent book is The Art of the Wasted Day. Other books include the memoirs The Florist’s Daughter, Virgin Time, A Romantic Education, and Blue Arabesque. Four of her books have been named New York Times “100 Notable Books of the Year.” I Could Tell You Stories was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction. She is also the author of two collections of poetry. Her essays, poems, short fiction, travel pieces and reviews have appeared in The New Yorker, Paris Review, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays and others. She is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (in poetry and in prose). In 1990 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is newly retired as Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota, and remains a member of the permanent faculty of the Prague Summer Writing Program.
Summer 2018
Alix Christie: Fiction workshop, Recanati July 2018
Alix Christie is the author of Gutenberg's Apprentice, a historical novel published in 2014 that was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Prize and the VCA-Cabell First Novel Award. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for the 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award and the Novella Award, and won the 2011 McGinnis-Ritchie award from the Southwest Review. She is currently a Literary Arts Fellow at the Montalvo Arts Center in California. A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Christie earned a Masters of Fine Arts in fiction from St. Mary's College of California. A longtime foreign correspondent, she has reported from Europe for the Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon.com, Washington Post and many other publications. She lives in London, where she is at work on a second novel and reviews books and arts for The Economist.
Michael Gardner: Visiting Prose Editor Recanati, July 2018
Michael Gardner’s essays have appeared in the Seneca Review, Sonora Review, and the anthology, From Boys to Men, which was nominated for the Lambda Literary Prize for Best Anthology. He has authored a few books, including most recently, Axel Vervoordt: Stories and Reflections (Flammarion, 2017), which was translated into French and Dutch, as well as a collection of interior design books, art catalogues, and a cookbook. He has an English degree from the University of Iowa and a Master of Fine Arts degree in nonfiction writing. He lives in Antwerp, Belgium.
Liz Alterman
Liz Alterman is the author of the domestic suspense novel, The Perfect Neighborhood, the young adult thriller, He’ll Be Waiting, and the memoir, Sad Sacked. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and other publications. Liz was named Humor Writer of the Month by the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop in November 2021. She lives in New Jersey.
DIRECTORS
Thomas Cooney
Founder & Director
Thomas Cooney is a graduate of UCLA with a degree in Art History, and NYU with an MA in Modernism. From 1997 – 2012 he anchored the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Saint Mary's College of California where he served as Acting Director, Director, and Coordinator. His short prose has been anthologized in The Answer, My Friend and Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit, and his travel essays have appeared in the San Francisco ChronicleSunday Magazine (Liberation, Paradise Lost, Bollywood Dreams). His music criticism has been widely published. A Graham Greene scholar, he has also served on several advisory boards, and from 2006 – 2008 was appointed for three consecutive years to serve on the recommendation committee for the awarding of International Fulbright Awards in the field of Creative Writing.
Dianna Cannizzo
Director, Non-Fiction Section
Dianna Marie Cannizzo writes memoir, flash non-fiction and essays. A bilingual public speaker, Dianna has twenty years of experience working with disabled people, and has a background in clinical psychology. Her work is informed by her presentations on intergenerational war trauma. Her writings have appeared in Consequence Forum, War Literature and the Arts and the University of Udine’s Le Simplegadi. An excerpt from her memoir The Red Purses was a San Francisco Writer’s Conference finalist. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley and an MA in Clinical Psychology, JFK University. She has lived Italy for the last twenty years.
Alex Finlay
Director, Mystery/Thriller Section
Alex Finlay is the bestselling author of several acclaimed novels, including the 2025 instant national bestseller, Parents Weekend. His work regularly appears on best-of-the-year lists and has been translated into twenty-six languages and sold around the world. Alex’s books have been optioned or in development for film and television, including Parents Weekend, which was recently acquired for adaptation to the screen. Alex lives in Washington, D.C.
Tracy Franze
Director/Conference Coordinator
Tracy Franze spent two decades as a public school teacher, including focusing on reading intervention and helping early readers. She will serve as conference coordinator to help participants navigate the conference and respond to questions or concerns.
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