Board President, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the author of Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications 2016). A former Steinbeck Fellow, Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, and Barbara Deming Memorial Fund grantee, she’s received residencies from Hedgebrook, Ragdale, National Parks Arts Foundation, and Poetry Foundation. She has work published in Acentos Review, CALYX, crazyhorse, [Pank], and American Poetry Review among others. Most recently her poem, “Battlegrounds” featured at The Academy of American Poets, Poem-A-Day. She’s coordinated workshops and panels with artworxLA, Latina Writers Conference, and #dignidadliteraria. Learn more at her website.
Board Treasurer, Lauren Eggert-Crowe, is the author of three poetry chapbooks: The Exhibit, In the Songbird Laboratory, and Rungs (co-authored with Margaret Bashaar). She is the Reviews Editor of Terrain.org and her work has appeared in Witch Craft Magazine, Angels Flight Literary West, Horse Less Review, The Rumpus, Salon, and The Millions, among others. She has an MFA in Poetry from The University of Arizona. Learn more at laureneggertcrowe.com.
Board Secretary, Kate Maruyama‘s novel Harrowgate was published by 47North and her novella Family Solstice by Omnium Gatherum. Her short work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Asimov’s, Entropy, December Tales, & Gathering: A Women Who Submit Anthology. She assists community leaders like Women Who Submit in various ways including promoting and creating events for Writ Large Press with 90x90LA, and promotes and amplifies the work of folks like Vigilant Love and Sustainable Little Tokyo. She is a member of the SFWA and HWA where she serves on the Diverse Works Inclusion Committee amplifying marginalized voices.
Jessica Ceballos y Campbell is founding director of poetry library and small press, Alternative Field, located at Avenue 50 Studio where she’s been a regular curator of interdisciplinary programming and co-organizes the LA Tenants Union meetings. With over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of film, theatre, publishing, and literary arts, she’s received awards from the California Arts Council, Cal Humanities, LA Dept. of Transportation, LA Dept. of Cultural Affairs, the James Irvine Fndtn, and the LA City Council. In addition, her work in community and arts advocacy has been recognized by the State of Alaska, the California State Assembly, the LA County Board of Supervisors, and the LA City Council, and she’s received fellowships from the Fractured Atlas Artist Campaign School, Arts for LA ACTIVATE Cultural Policy Leadership Program, and the WESTAF Emerging Leaders of Color program, where she currently sits on the Advisory Committee. Jessica is also a writer and editor and lives in northeast LA
Melissa Chadburn’s writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, The Best American Food Writing, and many other publications. Her reporting on the child welfare system appears in the Netflix docuseries The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. Through her own labor and literary citizenship, Chadburn strives to upend economic violence. A PhD candidate in creative writing at the University of Southern California, she lives in greater Los Angeles.
Toni Ann Johnson won the Flannery O’Connor Award with her linked story collection Light Skin Gone to Waste, forthcoming October 2022 from UGA Press. In 2021, Accents Publishing released Johnson’s Homegoing after it won their inaugural novella contest. A novel, Remedy For a Broken Angel was nominated for a 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author. Johnson has served on the board of the Empowerment Congress Southwest. She’s been a college professor at The University of Southern California and in June she joins the faculty of Antioch University Los Angeles.
Luivette Resto is an award-winning poet, a mother of 3 revolutionary humans, a Wonder Woman fan, and a middle school English teacher. She was born in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico but proudly raised in the Bronx. She is a CantoMundo and Macondo Fellow and a Pushcart Prize nominee. She also sits on the inaugural board of directors for Women Who Submit. Her two books of poetry Unfinished Portrait and Ascension have been published by Tía Chucha Press. Her recent poetry collection Living on Islands Not Found on Map, published by FlowerSong Press, is a finalist for the 2022 Juan Felipe Herrera Best Poetry Book Award at the International Latino Book Awards. She lives in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles.
Rachelle Yousuf has worked and volunteered in the Los Angeles literary community for the past decade. She has served as both National President and L.A. Chapter President of the Women’s National Book Association. She has also worked with literary organizations such as YALLWEST, the LA branch of The Freya Project, and Bookswell, coordinating events and programs. Previously, she was the head of membership at PEN Center USA, a literary arts and human rights nonprofit. Rachelle holds a master’s in English Literature from California State University, Northridge, where she currently works in fundraising as the Annual Giving Manager.
Désirée Zamorano is the author of the highly acclaimed literary novel The Amado Women. An award-winning and Pushcart prize nominee short story writer, a sampling of her writing can be found in Catapult, Cultural Weekly, Huizache, The Kenyon Review, and [PANK]. She is a past scholar of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and a frequent contributor to the LA Review of Books. As the director of Occidental College’s Community Literacy Center, Désirée brought in writers to lead dynamic workshops or participate in engaging panels. She was instrumental in unionizing the adjunct faculty.