2008 Contributors Bios

Works winning WRHC Awards, Staff Choice Awards, and Editors' Choice Award are linked to our website for the last three years only. The Scribendi staff also elected to give no Staff Choice Award in Digital Art.

Works winning awards longer than three years ago no longer appear on this website. Click here for graphic design of Contributors pages, as they appeared in the 2008 issue.

Brittny A. Bevel, Northern Arizona University
My Life: Snapshots
An Art History major at Northern Arizona University, Brittny is excited for her third Scribendi publication. Fine arts started as a hobby for this college junior but have since become a passion and stress reliever. Brittny believes there is no better feeling than that of getting completely absorbed into a piece.

Clara Boling, University of New Mexico
A Little Illumination (WRHC Award Winner, Fiction)
Clara Boling is a senior studying English and dabbling in Linguistics. She likes peanut butter, correct grammar, Victorian literature, God, her family, bright shiny objects, useless trivia, plus several million other things.

Laura A. Brady, University of Washington
Magical Cloud Bubble Bath
Laura Brady is a senior in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. She writes from instinct and the need to understand her deepest questions of being. If her life is full, she will one day understand the story line that weaves all of her poems together.

Sara Cobble, University of New Mexico
Defined (Staff Choice Award Winner, Essay)
I Hope
Sara is a junior, double majoring in English and Journalism. A former Scribendi staff member, she is thrilled to again be a part of the Scribendi experience!

Sarah Contreras, Central Arizona College
Azul de la Sierra
Through Sarah’s love of travel she has found a passion for photography. Her work is a catalog of the unusual beauty of the places she has been.

Andra Farcas, University of Arizona
Fictionized
Beauty
Andra Farcas was born in Romania and moved to the United States in 1998. She is currently attending the University of Arizona, studying Math and Psychology. Her hobbies include photography, writing, and reading.

Chelsea Frost, University of Nevada, Reno
Las Manos
Chelsea is a first-year student at the University of Nevada, Reno. She has written poetry since she was fourteen, but until this semester she has never participated in a creative writing class. She is majoring in Spanish and owes much of her mastery of it, including editing help with her poem “Las Manos,” to her high school teacher Mr. Pedro Fernandez.

Jessie Green, University of New Mexico
Just A Scoop
Jessie loves to take pictures in her free time. Her photography is unique because she develops all of her work herself in a darkroom.

Janel Groenewoud, California State University, Stanislaus
Decimating Silence (Staff Choice Award Winner, Photography)
Janel Groenewoud has been attending csu Stanislaus for the past four years and looks forward to graduating this fall with a B.S. in Business Administration. She intends to be an entrepreneur and expects to use her creative talent in photography as a source of one of her business ventures.

Jane Hawley, University of Wyoming
Everything that Sinks Must Converge
Jane Hawley thinks writing an autobiography in fifty words is silly because: 1) Even the best writers aren’t that concise, 2) How could she possibly know what you’d like to know about her, and 3) How many people read these anyway and get useful information from them? Just read her personal essay.

Michael Ignatov, University of Arizona
Drops at Oyama
Tequila Made Me Do It
Lady in the Water
Michael Ignatov is currently a senior majoring in Japanese Literature at the University of Arizona. In addition to piña coladas, he enjoys art and writing.

Sean Johnson, Brigham Young University
What We Knew (WRHC Award Winner, Poetry)
Sean Johnson, an English major at Brigham Young University, has published poems in the American River Review and Inscape. He is the recipient of an Academy of American Poets College Prize.

Shelby R. Kinney-Lang, University of Wyoming
Bird and Lion
Shelby Kinney-Lang is a freshman at the University of Wyoming. He was raised in Laramie and has been an amateur photographer for most of his life. His major is currently undeclared.

Jessica Lane, University of Arizona
Thanks for Getting Me, C.B. (Editors’ Choice Award Winner, Poetry)
4 a.m. in Madrid
Jessica Lane is a Communication/Pre-Law student with a passion for the arts. She is an avid poetry writer/reader and enjoys discovering new ways to place paint on a canvas or play chords on a guitar.

Sarena Emily Levinson, University of New Mexico
The Importance of Clever Handwriting
Countertop
Sarena Emily Levinson is a nomadic insomniac who will sacrifice many things (food, clothing, sanity) for the sake of art. She was a WRHC award winner in 2005 and has also been published in the Alibi.

Shloka Mangharam, University of Arizona
A Poetic Sabbatical (Staff Choice Award Winner, Fiction)
Shloka Mangharam is a Creative Writing senior at the University of Arizona. She also studies Art, French, and Spanish. She wants to be a street performer in Barcelona, Spain, someday.

Kelly McCarthy, University of New Mexico
Contemporary Chow Mein
Kelly McCarthy was born on December 30, 1987, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She briefly lived in Germany before moving to Rio Rancho, New Mexico, in 1991. Her hobbies include painting, writing, and playing video games.

Jaque M. Meng, Eastern Washington University
End?
Jaque Meng is a senior at Eastern Washington University. She has just received a scholarship award from Hanrahan Swerer-Wiley for her artistic talents and academic standing. Jaque is planning to continue her education with a Master’s degree in Fine Arts.

Leilani Miller, Brigham Young University, Hawaii
Fidelity (WRHC Award Winner, Photography)
Born and raised in Laie, Hawaii, Leilani is a senior in Visual Communications and is also studying Percussion as she completes a minor in Music. Other hobbies include dancing, singing, traveling, and experiencing new cultures.

Rykki Lynn Olson, Weber State University
Sunshine Plans
Rykki Lynn Olson is originally from Shoshoni, Wyoming. She studies Creative Writing and Computer Science at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Mike Osborne, University of Montana Western
Desired and Success (Editors’ Choice Award Winner, Poetry)
Mike is a single father of two children and has worked in construction all his life. Since attending the University of Montana Western, he has discovered his voice and hasn’t stopped writing since.

Chelsea Otakan, University of Nevada, Reno
Youth Fountain
Chelsea Otakan is an honors student at the University of Nevada, Reno and is passionate about photography and digital art.

Martin Nikolaus Quin, Western State College of Colorado
Algae (Staff Choice Award Winner, Poetry)
Martin Quin is a musician who is fascinated by the sound and connotations of words. In the future he’d like to combine music and literary theory.

Rachel Rawn, University of Montana
Welcome, Randy
Rachel Rawn is from Havre, Montana, where she lives with her father, stepmother, younger brother, and their dog. She goes to school at the University of Montana.

Erika Rodriguez, Westminster College
Mrs.
Erika Rodriguez is a student at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is originally from Houston, Texas, where she won the National Scholastic American Voices Gold Key Award and was the youngest juried poet in the Houston Poetry Festival 2006. She enjoys walking through abandoned buildings, empty churches, and old Victorian houses.

Dan Sharon, University of Denver
Trees
Dan Sharon is a sophomore honors student currently working on a Bachelor’s of Music at the University of Denver. He appreciates all forms of art for their different powers of expression. Besides his love of music, Dan is an avid reader and loves everything to do with the outdoors.

Julie Swarstad, University of Arizona
Saraband
Julie Swarstad is a native of Arizona and currently resides in Tucson while attending the University of Arizona. She is pursuing a liberal arts degree in Anthropology and Creative Writing with a minor in Music.

Anna Joy Thigpen Hunt, Sacramento City College
Mexico, Not Cuba (WRHC Award Winner, Photography)
Anna Joy Thigpen Hunt grew up in Village Homes, a neighborhood which encouraged creativity and community. She is eager to pursue artistic adventures in her future studies. She is a good person.

Julia Tian, Brigham Young University
Poetics
Julia Jin Tian is currently a student at Brigham Young University in Utah, double majoring in Illustration and Creative Writing. Her aspirations are to become a published author and illustrator and give aid and support to those who want to develop their talents.

Jesseca Whalen, University of Montana
The Ghost Flower
Jesseca Whalen is majoring in Journalism and Business at the University of Montana. She loves traveling, reading, and going out to eat. Her hero is her yellow lab, Xena.

Paige E. Wheeler, University of Arizona
(life) according to e.e. cummings
Paige is an aspiring author and a cereal addict. She was born an Arizona Wildcat and she will die an Arizona Wildcat. In between, she hopes to write something spectacular, bring peace to Israel, and see the Wildcats, under Lute Olson’s guidance, dominate in the NCAA National Championships
once again.

William Whyde, University of Wyoming
The American Dream (WRHC Award Winner, Essay)
William Whyde is from Casper, Wyoming. He is the son of Don and Donna Whyde and is currently attending the University of Wyoming.

Michelle Winchell, University of Wyoming
Blair Canyon
Aspen Grove I (WRHC Award Winner, Visual Art)
Michelle is a designer and printmaker living in Laramie, Wyoming. Her recent work has drawn from the strong connections she has to the landscape of Wyoming and Colorado. Her prints, often portraits of places she knows well, attempt to capture the essence of the landscapes.

Paul W. Wright, University of Arizona
Hatchling (Staff Choice Award Winner, Visual Art)
Paul Wright is a native of Albuquerque and is currently a senior at the University of Arizona pursuing two degrees, one in Art and the other in Computer Science. He is a Spanish minor and plays guitar and mandolin in a local band.