Kelly Writers House Staff 2005-2006
The staff is an integral part of the House, coming together with the Planning Committee to generate ideas, as well as ensuring that readings, musical performances, screenings, publicity, and fundraising plans go off without a hitch. We are open to ideas, questions and comments you may have, so drop us a line.
Al Filreis --- Faculty Director
Al is Kelly Professor of English and Director of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing and is one of the founders of the Writers House, along with an intrepid group of students, faculty and staff whom he led into the cottage at 3805 Locust back in October of 1995. He has been the Faculty Director of the Writers House ever since. He has taught the Writers House Fellows seminar since 2000, and created the Writers House Book Groups among other projects; he has won the Lindback Award and the Meyer Abrams Award for Distinguished Teaching and was chosen as the Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation in 1999. He has published books on modern poetry and has written extensively on poetry and politics and radical literary generations. Here is Al's web site.
Full-time Staff
Jennifer Snead--- Director
Dr. Jennifer Snead became the Director of the Kelly Writers House in July of 2003, and she still looks around every once in a while from the director's office and asks herself, how did I get here? She graduated from Penn in 1994 with a degree in English and Creative Writing, and missed the founding of the House by about a year, so she often answers the above question by telling herself that she's making up for lost time. In between then and now, she got a Ph.D from Duke University in eighteenth-century British poetry, moved back to Philadelphia, taught courses in the Penn English department and was a Mellon post-doctoral fellow at the Penn Humanities Forum. She spent quite a lot of time cooking in the Writers House kitchen and learning the truth of the adage that the way to people's hearts is often through their stomachs, although poetry runs a close second. She writes and reads her own work in and around Philadelphia, is fond of nonsense verse, science fiction, and the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. You'll find her in room 109 at the back of the House on most days.
Erin Gautsche --- Program Coordinator
Erin Gautsche grew up in northern Indiana, and knows more about corn fields and red state politics than she would often like to. When not in Indiana, she lived briefly in Guatemala, and then Indonesia, and ran around the world as much as possible in between. After a year in Chicago, she moved to Philadelphia and is now a proud West Philly resident. In the past she has been a waitress, an artist's assistant, a reading tutor, a florist, a nursing home server, a youth care worker, a grant writer, and a graduate student, and is now very pleased to be the Program Coordinator of Kelly Writers House, where good people talk about good writing. When not at the Writers House, she is reading, or writing, or cooking, or watching movies, or taking pictures, or planning projects, or at dive bars, or in the park, or on her patio with a glass of wine and some friends, or dreaming about her next big adventure, or doing as many of those things at once as she can possibly manage.
Jessy Ginsberg --- Assistant Coordinator
Jessy Ginsberg lives and works in Philadelphia. She works at the Kelly Writers House. She is recording an album called 'Orange Juice: Stephanie/Stephanie' under the name Pepi Ginsberg, her middle name. She has had two poodles, one guinea pig, three cats, some horses and some fish. Her favorite fruit is all fruit and she loves vegetables too, and also grains and cookies. Cheers!
Sarah Giovanniello --- Assistant Coordinator
Sarah graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 2003 with a degree in English, but spent most of her time watching movies, taking naps in the library, and trying to uncover the mysteries of physical theater. She sometimes performs in plays around the city, and hopes that one day she'll be smart enough to join the Lacan Study Group.
Jamie-Lee Josselyn --- Assistant to the Director of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing
Jamie-Lee Josselyn graduated from Penn in 2005 with a degree in Creative Writing and French. Upon her graduation, she couldn't possibly imagine leaving Philadelphia and the KWH community, so she has planted herself in a third floor office at the Writers House that suits her just fine. A non-fiction writer with a somewhat latent interest in poetry, Jamie-Lee can often be found reading in a coffee shop or writing in her West Philly studio apartment. Jamie-Lee's favorite things include haiku, red wine, exchanged glances, and her journal.
Phil Sandick --- Assistant Director for Development
Phil is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied American Lit & Culture, coached in the Write On! program, and performed with the a cappella group Penny Loafers. In the summer of 2005, Phil became the Kelly Writers House Assistant Director for Development (a position made possible through a grant from the William Penn Foundation). Phil has previously worked at the Writers House as an Assistant Program Coordinator and also as the Assistant to the Director of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing. In addition to his interest in literature and contemporary fiction, Phil enjoys listening to jazz, following baseball, and perfecting his driving skills.
Maria Tessa Sciarrino --- Assistant to the Director
Maria graduated with a degree in photography from The University of the Arts a couple years back, but shamefully admits to not doing much with it since then. Instead, she spends her time immersing herself in the world of music, booking shows around town and hosting a radio program on WPRB (103.3FM, Princeton). She is known to bring lots of loud, strange music to the house and feed you random bits of music knowledge.
Work-study staff
Jill Budd --- Database Manager
Hi, my name is Jill Budd. I'm from small town South Jersey and this is my sophomore year in the Engineering School at Penn. I chose not write my own bio because I am a peculiar combination of lazy and self-conscious, so I asked several friends to describe me with whatever random factoids came to mind:
- i don't wear a watch
- i am much funnier than one would assume from a first impression
- my hair can never stay the same color
- i enjoy cups of tea
- i'm full of amazing stories
- and i know how to open a bottle of fine champagne
Aichlee Bushnell --- Program Assistant
Try to pronouce "Aichlee." Go ahead, try. Hint: it's not "Ake-ley" or "Ike-ley."
Janine Catalano --- Development Assistant
Janine Catalano is a Jersey Girl and no one cares about anything else she does. Her dad listens to the Ramones, though, which is awesome.
Dave Doyle --- Assistant to DEAD
Fei Fang --- Graphic Designer
Fei, who failed all his painting/computer courses in high school, is the new graphic designer of the House. He usually introduces himself as 'a newly rising artist at Penn'.
Zach Smith Ferris --- Book Purchaser
Name: Zachary Smith Ferris
Rank: Padawan (under Master Rosenbam)
Class: Apprentice Acquirer of Wisdom (Book Purchaser B)
Primary Force Skills (Official Work Duties): Purchasing books, returning books, making calls to book companies on speakerphone, taking notes on Master Rosenbam's techniques.
Secondary Force Skills (Other "Duties"): Compulsively cleaning things, making coffee, eating food from the fridge, petting Jen's dogs, sweeping the front porch, playing chess, hitting his head on ceiling when going up the kitchen stairs, locking himself out of the house, organizing the tupperware cabinet, vacuuming his laptop keyboard, talking to Jess about Australia, asking Erin for keys to the library closet, and filling out the dry-erase board very very slowly.
Other Skills (Non-work-related skills): Playing guitar, singing, running, writing copious amounts of bad poetry, doing girls' makeup, making fun of Wharton people, participating in behavioural research studies, borrowing peoples' cell phones, eating at the 1920 Commons, and throwing things out the highrise windows.
Hannah Filreis --- Office Assistant Extraordinaire
Hannah is a recent but crucial addition to the Writers House staff. A Philadelphia native, Hannah is a 5th grader at Friends Central School, where her favorite subject is Language Arts. In her free time, Hannah enjoys playing soccer, field hockey, and eating Ben and Jerry's Brownie Batter Ice Cream. Her favorite color is light blue. Although she just began working at the Writers House, Hannah has been part of the community for most of her life. She was even a featured reader at the Seven-Up on Gold event in September of 2004. Hannah's primary role as Office Assistant Extraordinaire is to keep the rest of the staff in line.
Anand Goodridge --- Project Assistant to the Faculty Director
Anand is no longer a freshman from Medford, MA.
Jill Ivey --- Recruitment
Jill Ivey keeps a sleeping bag in the basement of the Writers House, for the purpose of throwing it over her unsuspecting victims and beating them with a shovel. She doesn't actually have an apartment, like she tells people. Late at night, she sneaks into the Writers House and feeds upon the bodies of her most recent kills, which are conveniently kept warm by the sleeping bag.
Yumeko Kawano --- Program Assistant
What is there to say about Yumeko that hasn't already been said? Probably everything.
Richard Lawrence --- Assistant Webmaster
Mr. Lawrence is an inherently logical person, as evidenced by the photograph to the left of this text. He is seen here in his natural habitat, examining the thermodynamic properties of a mop.
Jeff Leider --- Assistant Producer, DEAD
Jeff Leider no longer works at the Writers House in any paid capacity.
Warith Dean Madyun --- Program Assistant
Salaam. My Name is Warith Deen Madyun. I hail from Newark, NJ. I'm a sophomore in the College, majoring in Sociology, and minoring in Psychology(maybe). As for future plans, my vision is clear: social reform, but my mission is vague. Consequently, every class I take, and every person I meet, I keep in mind my plans for change. Bottomline: Impossible is Nothing, Insha'Allah. By the way, I love my family.
Moira Moody --- Sound Operator
Moira Moody is best known as the namesake of a lichen indigenous to New Jersey, Gyalideopsis Moodyae . When not fielding requests pertinent to her non-fungal, non-bacterial find, she works here at the house, majors in English and plays Ultimate Frisbee for Penn. Incubated in Philadelphia, Moira does not hesitate to pay due respect to the 4 generations of Ralph Alphonso Moody's that preceeded her in East Pittston, Maine. However, the number one Moody in her life is her brother, Dylan. At Writers House, she mucks around with the sound, fills database space and writes rowdy emails. Her post college plans are TBD, but as a senior citizen she is banking on entering showbusiness to play women with alzheimers and paralysis in both after-school specials and soap operas.
Alexis Nguyen --- Webmistress
Once upon a midnight dreary, a mistress her submissive wearied, without a safety word. He ranted and he raved, but the mistress did not waive; she was determined for him to work, controlled and even, not berserk.
Matt Rosenbaum --- Publications & Books
Matt Rosenbaum was raised by the Egyptian Pharoah Ahmose's daughter after being discovered floating down the Nile River in a basket. At age 10, Matt contracted leprosy and had to go in search of the mystic medicine man Shakazulu. Matt finally found Shakazulu on the edge of a cliff in the Himalayas. Once cured of his leprosy, Matt went in search of his long, lost pet cat Fifi. He was forced to swim the length of the Indian Ocean and ended up in the Peruvian jungles, where he discovered not only Fifi but the former-Nazi Dr. Joseph Mengele. Matt single-handedly smote this Neo-Nazi regime and was turned into an instant celebrity. Due to his celebrity status, Matt received an offer to host his own reality TV show, but as he finds reality TV an adhorence to civilization, he opted for a job at the Kelly Writers House instead. You can now find him in the hub office ordering books and training his young padawan.
Peter Schwarz --- Art Curator
A recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (Comparative Literature & Literary Theory, Theatre Arts), Schwarz is now pursuing graduate work at Penn through the Master of Liberal Arts Program, College of General Studies. His primary field of interest is 20th Century cultural studies in Anglo, French, and German: modern/postmodern Western intellectual history, visual arts, literature, and radical politics. In addition to his graduate studies, Schwarz is a Senior Coordinator for The Cold War Project.
Kristin Williams --- Program Assistant
Kristin Williams is a College sophomore, double majoring in English and Political Science, with various minors depending on the time of day and her mood. She's a former ballerina who only dances occasionally now at Penn (and usually in grocery store aisles). She's on the Penn Speech and Debate team, which fulfills her desire to hear herself talk on a regular basis. Her latest project is helping revive a literary journal that deals with issues of gender, sexuality and feminism. She is involved in Peers Helping Incoming New Students, Residential Advisory Board, and the English Undergraduate Advisory Board. She also enjoys blogging, reading pretentious novels, using parliamentary procedure, going to the theatre, turning the world red, sending letters, spelling words, parallel parking and knowing everyone's name. On a final note, she has entirely too many facebook friends.