Who’s Who

Stephanie Dethlefs, Director

Originally from Seattle, Stephanie moved to Bellingham in 1996 to enter the Masters in Education program at WWU. After teaching for a decade, she’s now thrilled to see Young Writers Studio come to life. You can usually find her playing outdoors, socializing over a cup of coffee, or writing with one hand while attempting to corral her two young children with the other.

Tess goes to school at Western Washington University, where she studies Spanish. If you lose her, listen for her laughter, which can usually be heard from across the room. Or several rooms. Her writing career began in first grade, when for a class assignment she composed the two-page poem: “I Hate Pink.”

Rebecca Beardsall, Publications Coordinator

Rebecca Beardsall teaches in the English Department at DeSales University. She grew up in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, and has lived in various places including Scotland, Canada, Montana, New Zealand, and Washington. She graduated with a BA in English from DeSales University and received her MA in English from Lehigh University. She has fifteen years’ experience in freelance writing in the United States and abroad. Her poetry has been published in various literary journals. She recently edited two books (Sept. 2011) Philadelphia Reflections: Stories from the Delaware to the Schuylkill and Western Pennsylvania Reflections: Stories from the Alleghenies to Lake Erie.

Ashley Goodwin, Publications Designer

Ashley is finishing her final year in the Creative Writing program at WWU, and is desperately trying to slow things down in fear of the working world.  Luckily, she loves adventure and plans on attending a graphic design school in Italy after graduation. The hope is that the certification she earns there can be paired with her BA in creative writing so that when she returns home to the Seattle area, the publishing companies will be begging for her to be on-staff.  But, she also accepts that plans can go astray–and writing her way through Europe for a few years doesn’t sound like such a bad alternative.

Pam Sankey, Program Leader

Matt Heredia, Program Leader

Matt Heredia studies English Literature at Western Washington University.  He will be graduating this year and plans to teach English as a second language abroad.  His areas of interest are Russian and Medieval literature.

Jenn Grunigen, Program Leader

Britt Ashley, Program Leader