About us

Alejandra Ramos Riera is a Puerto Rican published and award-winning playwright, actress, and director based in NYC. She is also the winner of The Miranda Family Voces Latinx National Playwriting Competition (2020) for her play Malas mañas, and a 2021 Emmy Nominee for Voice Over Actress for Animated Short Film, La Cucarachita Martina’s Musical Adventure. Her published work includes En la azotea, 10 piezas cortas de teatro and Times of Fire, among many others. Her latest playwriting credits include off-Broadway successes such as Malas Mañas, Embrace: Micro-theater, and Mara tres veces…. She also wrote and directed Bitter Sweet and Saben A-Mar, and directed Agua, Vida y tierra.

Alejandra is currently a collaborator artist of Pregones/PRTT, and has been commissioned to write a Forum Theater short play, as well as the co-founder and artistic director of Teatro la azotea, Inc. (she/her/hers)

Kate Reuther is the founder and director of Uptown Stories with the mission of providing young writers the chance to discover and develop their inner voices. Over the past ten years, Uptown Stories has offered nearly 200 writing workshops, and championed the voices of more than 1,500 kids in Manhattan’s uptown neighborhoods. Before Uptown Stories, Kate taught middle and high school Humanities for over 25 years, in both public and private schools, including the Tompkins Square Middle School, Calhoun, Fieldston, and Bank Street. Her own fiction has appeared in The Madison Review, Brain Child, Salamander, and The Ledge. Kate is a life-long New Yorker and has been living in Washington Heights since 2003 with her two kids. (she/her/hers)

Dorkys Ramos is the deputy director for Uptown Stories. She is a bilingual writer, editor, artist, and teacher born-and-raised in Washington Heights/Inwood. Her work has appeared in a variety of digital and print publications, including Travel + Leisure, BET.com, Time Out New York Kids, Parents Latina, the Syracuse Post-Standard, and the Manhattan Times, among others. She currently teaches writing and art to elementary, middle school, and high school students in Washington Heights and Inwood and is part of the steering committee for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ metro chapter. She’s a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications where she studied Magazine, Newspaper, and Online Journalism and is also the founder and illustrator of stationery company Porcupine Hugs. (she/her/hers)

Melanie Thibeault is the director of marketing and operations for Uptown Stories. She likes rules, guidelines and procedures, especially when they’re applied all at the same time. She also likes skateboarding and surfing, though she can do neither. Melanie lives in Washington Heights, but would consider moving to the Bronx to be a zookeeper. (she/her/hers)

Njoli Brown is a teacher, activist, public speaker, martial artist and explorer. Njoli has worked designing youth development programs both internationally and domestically for over 20 years and obtained his Master’s in Education from Antioch University New England. He is a teacher of pedagogy and facilitator of programs with a passion for engaging community in the process of discovery. As a freelance writer, Njoli integrates his dedication to restorative practices in the generation of works pointedly introspective and connectively extrospective. His passion for martial arts, backpacking and travel are integral to his world view and the grounding of his work. (he/him/his)

Cozbi A. Cabrera paints, illustrates children’s books, quilts, and designs clothing. Trained as an art director, this Parsons School of Design grad left her dream job creating music packaging in NY to make handmade collectible cloth dolls (Muñecas) in honor of her Honduran heritage. Her dolls have been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Martha Stewart Living, and many US networks. She was artist in residence at Lincoln Center/Manny Cantor Center, conducting a collaborative quiltmaking project with culturally and generationally diverse residents of the Lower East Side, NY (2017-18). Cozbi’s illustrated titles include: Beauty Her Basket; Thanks A Million; Stitchin’ and Pullin’ A Gees Bend Quilt; Most Loved in All the World and Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. She authored and illustrated My Hair Is A Garden and Me and Mama. More at Cozbi.com. (she/her/hers)

Shamie Cuthbert is a teacher, writer, and local mom. After teaching creative writing workshops for about a decade, she attended Bank Street College of Education, where she received a Master’s in Early Childhood and General Education. She has been teaching in New York City independent schools for the past five years. Passionate about both teaching and writing, her main focus is to enhance the natural creative abilities of children, while facilitating the development of skills and strategies to execute ideas. As a freelance writer, Shamie has published several social perspective pieces for the independent publication, Circle Magazine. She is currently working on a collection of New York City based short stories for children. (she/her/hers)

Stacy Davidowitz is a proud Washington Heights-based author and playwright. Her star-reviewed novel, The Chance to Fly, coauthored by Tony Award-winning actress Ali Stroker, was named a best children’s book of the year by Amazon, Chicago Public Library, Parents, and Bank Street College of Education. It was also selected by the National Education Association as a featured title for Read Across America. Its sequel Cut Loose! is set for publication in fall 2023. Stacy is best known for her four-book Camp Rolling Hills series, inspired by her coauthored Camp Rolling Hills the Musical, which continues to have productions across the country. She is also the author of the Hanazuki chapter-book series based on Hasbro’s YouTube series. Stacy has written award-winning plays that have been produced regionally and internationally, and are published by Broadway Play Publishing, Stage Rights, and YouthPLAYS. When she is not writing, she teaches creative writing and musical theater. She is a proud graduate of Tufts University and Columbia University, where she earned degrees in drama, psychology, and acting. Catch her running around the neighborhood with her twin boys, and learn the latest at stacydavidowitz.com and on Instagram @stacydavidowitzbooks. (she/her/hers)

Zetta Elliott is the author of over thirty books for young readers, including the award-winning picture books Bird and Melena’s Jubilee. Her urban fantasy novel, Ship of Souls, was named a Booklist Top Ten Sci-fi/Fantasy Title for Youth. Dragons in a Bag, a middle grade fantasy novel, was named an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book and has been nominated for Young Reader’s Choice Awards in seven states. The sequel, The Dragon Thief, was named one of the best books of 2019 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center. Her poetry has been published in several anthologies, including Show Us Your Papers, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices and New Daughters of Africa; her young adult poetry collection, Say Her Name, was named a 2020 “Best of the Best” title by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Her latest picture book, A Place Inside of Me, was named an ALA Notable Book and a Notable Poetry Book by the National Council of Teachers of English. Elliott is an advocate for greater diversity and equity in children’s literature; her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. She currently lives in Evanston, IL. (she/her/hers)

Nicholas Forker has worked in artist’s studios such as Takashi Murakami and Federico Solmi as a production specialist. He has served as Art Director for companies like Timex and Levi-Strauss Co. and created illustrations for Marc Jacobs, J.Peterman, and Warner Bros. Nick has also helmed branding efforts for companies like Sticky’s Finger Joint and several bands, painted massive murals, and been immersed in art making of all kinds in his 18-year stay in New York City.

Recently he has been engaged in creating a monthly comic book, putting out one 28-page book every month in 2022. All the while teaching the skills he has learned along the way. He lives in Brooklyn currently and is the author of over 20 titles. (he/him/his)

CJ Gardella is living the filmmaker’s dream. Since graduating from School of Visual Arts (2005), he’s worked as a producer assistant at Robert Altman’s Sandcastle 5 Productions and later as an assistant to director Noah Baumbach, then went on to make his first feature film Shunka (2011) which won the Kodak Vision Award for cinematography and Spirit of Slamdance Sparky audience award. he completed a short film Elegy (2017) which has garnered four awards since it began its festival run in 2017, which includes the Nitehawk Film Festival, the Night Terrors Film Fest, and Shorts on Tap. (he/him/his)

Assal Ghawami is an Iranian-born German filmmaker, performer, and writer. Her films have played at numerous international film festivals, and she has co-founded the Every Woman BIennial Film Festival. Assal is a proud Alliance of Women Directors member and Co-creator of the Brooklyn-based comedy duo Iran Mustache Crisis. Since graduating from NYU Grad Film School, Assal has produced and directed music videos and corporate projects at New York’s first all female run film studio GUM Studios. She has taught film classes at Naked Angels Theater 3T Workshops, and in 2022 Assal joined New York Film Academy as a screenwriting and directing faculty member. Whenever she is not writing, teaching, reading, or preparing for a film shoot, Assal spends quality time with her husband, their snails, and their goldfish. (she/her)

Miss Lasko-Gross is the author and illustrator of Henni (Honored by ALA’s Amelia Bloomer List and YALSA 2016: Great Graphic Novels for Teens,) Fantagraphics Books: A Mess Of Everything (named one of Booklist’s top 10 graphic novels of the year) and the YALSA nominated Escape From “Special.” She is the creator/writer of Z2 comics’ scifi series THE SWEETNESS. Her work has also been featured in The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts.

Jane LeCroy is a poet, performance artist and educator who fronts the band The Icebergs and was a part of Sister Spit, the famed west coast women’s poetry troupe. Since 1997 Jane has been publishing student work and teaching writing, literature and performance to all ages through artist-in-the-schools organizations such as Teachers & Writers Collaborative and DreamYard, and as adjunct faculty at the university level. Her poetry book, Names was published by Booklyn as part of the award winning ABC chapbook series, purchased by the Library of Congress along with her braid!  Signature Play, her multimedia book from Three Rooms Press, features a poem that was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. (she/her/hers)

Tess Michaelson is a writer, interdisciplinary artist, and teacher based in New York. Tess earned her undergraduate degree in English from Stanford University in 2018 and recently graduated from Columbia University’s Nonfiction Writing Program with a Master in Fine Arts. She writes about dance, books, and ideas. (she/her/hers)

B. Sharise Moore is a New Jersey native and graduate of Rutgers University. Moore’s poems and short stories have appeared in several anthologies and journals including For Harriet, Chosen Realities: Summer 2020 and Fiyah Literary Magazine. At present, she is an educator, the host of Moore Books with B. Sharise on YouTube, and the poetry editor at Fiyah Literary Magazine. Her YA magical realism novel, “Dr. Marvellus Djinn’s Odd Scholars” is set for an early 2021 release. (she/her/hers)

Dave Roman is the author/illustrator of the Astronaut Academy series and writer of the graphic novel Teen Boat! Race for Boatlantis (with John Patrick Green). He teaches at the School of Visual Arts, is a former editor at Nickelodeon Magazine, and is currently the editor for First Second’s Science Comics and History Comics ongoing series of nonfiction graphic novels. He draws a webcomic called Pup & Duck, lives in NYC, and is always on the lookout for the perfect waffle.

Mx. Mimi Shelton is a black, queer, gender non-binary educator who has lived in Washington Heights for the past three years and is originally from Louisa County, Virginia. For the past four years, they have taught Humanities, specifically Middle School English, at independent schools and non-profit programs in Philadelphia as well as Riverdale Country School and The TEAK Fellowship in New York City. Mimi received their Master’s of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and their BA from the College of William and Mary. Their pedagogy, research, and facilitation emphasizes diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for underrepresented students and faculty at all levels of education. In addition to teaching, Mimi works part time as an executive assistant for the Bronx-based LGBTQ center, Destination Tomorrow, and they serve on GLSEN’s National Educator Advisory Committee outside of the classroom. Their publications include a blog post for GLSEN entitled 4 Ways You Can Support Black, Queer, Trans & GNC Educators Today (2019) and a written contribution within Charity-Hudley, Dickter, and Franz’s (2017) The Indispensable Guide to Undergraduate Research: Success in and Beyond College. (they/them/their)

Noelle Tannen  is a Vocalist, Songwriter, Producer Composer, and Educator based in Upper Manhattan. Noelle holds a degree in Composition from The SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music where she studied under Pulitzer Prize Winner Du Yun and Joel Those. Noelle has written and produced 3 studio albums in the past decade and has nationally toured as a solo artist and has performed at theaters such as Merkin Concert Hall, Village Underground, The Neptune Theater, The New Orleans Music Box Village, Jazz festival Rochester Jazz Festival and more! Noelle has been teaching music for the past 7 years, at various community outreach programs and schools in both New York City and New Orleans, LA. (she/her/hers)