Meet the 2020 Highlandtown Writers-in-Residence!
This residency program is sponsored by Yellow Arrow Publishing, the Highlandtown First Friday Art Walk, Highlandtown Arts, the Southeast CDC, and Highlandtown Main Street.
Yellow Arrow Publishing is based in Highlandtown and loves supporting our neighborhood events. A large tenant of our mission is to support other writers by providing opportunities to gain visibility in the community. This residency was created for those what want and need time to work on their writing, but aren’t able to leave home for weeks or months at a time.
You can meet them during the Highlandtown First Friday Art Walk, furiously scribbling at Yellow Arrow House, or perhaps wandering around Highlandtown in an inspired daze.
2020 Highlandtown Writers-in-Residence
Annie Marhefka is a freelance writer, HR consultant, and mother residing in Baltimore, Maryland. She earned her BA in Creative Writing from Washington College on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and an MBA with a concentration in HR Management. Her career includes 15 years as an HR executive & COO overseeing all HR functions, operations, and communications for a leader in the education technology industry. Annie serves on the Board of Directors for St. Francis Neighborhood Center in Reservoir Hill, and is the Vice President of the board for The Barbara J. Dreyer Cares Foundation. She lives in Canton with her husband John and their daughter Elena. Her love of writing was shared with her late mother, who inspired her to write about the complexities and intimate nature of the mother/daughter relationship.
Annie will be the writer-in-residence for March and April.
India Kushner is a writer with a BA in Communications/Journalism from Goucher College. Fueled by tea, poetry, and her love of Harry Potter, India has always believed in the power of words to create positive change. She has previously published work at TheTempest.co and in The Corvus Review.
India will be the writer-in-residence for May and June.
Barbara Perez Marquez was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Manhattanville College. She writes short stories and fiction, usually using coming of age and LGBTQ themes in her work. During her career, she has also been an editor for several publications and projects. Her work was first featured in a student collection in the 7th grade, the same year she decided she wanted to be a writer. Since then, she's been featured in Manhattanville College's Graffiti and Tinta Extinta. Her latest work, The Cardboard Kingdom, is a graphic novel about a neighborhood of kids having a summer adventure and is out now from Knopf Books for Young Readers and Random House Children's Books. Book two, The Cardboard Kingdom: Roar of the Beast, is due out in 2021. Barbara lives in Baltimore, MD with her fiance and their dog, Eliot.
Barbara will be the writer-in-residence for September and October.
Stephanie Garon received dual science degrees from Cornell University, then attended Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Her environmental art has been exhibited internationally in London, Colombia, and South Korea, as well as across the United States. Her writing, a critical aspect of her artistic process, has been published in international literary journals and performed adjacent to her artwork. When she’s not in her studio, she’s jumping across river beds to comb through pine needles.
Stephanie will be the writer-in-residence for November and December.