About The Creator: Tessa Denton

Tessa Denton (she/her) is a student at the University of Washington, Bothell, double majoring in Culture, Literature, and the Arts (CLA); and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS). Tessa loves to write, read, spend time outside, thrift for knickknacks she doesn't need, and spoil her cats.

Thank you to Dr. Julie Shayne for putting this course together and for her wonderful guidance and support.

Thank you to all of the guest speakers and writers who have inspired and amazed me with their stories:

[Descriptions provided by Dr. Shayne.]

Akshara Balakrishnan (she/her). Cohort Operations & Programs Coordinator, Q Center, University of Washington Seattle | GWSS UWB alum, former GWSS student rep.

Sarah Cannon (she/her). Author of the memoir The Shame of Losing.

Annie Carl (she/her), owner of The Neverending Bookshop | Author of My Tropey Life: How Pop Culture Stereotypes Make Disabled Lives Harder and the forthcoming sci-fi novella Nebula Vibrations.

Donna Dresch (she/her). Musician, zine maker, record label owner, queen of grunge, trailblazer of the queercore and riot grrrl movements. Jody Bleyle (she/they). Musician, record label owner, early contributor to the queercore and riot grrrl movements. Both in the band Team Dresch.

Miranda Findlay (she/her). Editorial Assistant, Feminist Formations.

Laurie Frankel (she/her). Author of This Is How It Always Is, and three other NYT bestsellers.

Professor Deborah Hathaway (she/her). Lecturer in Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies and the First Year & Pre-Major Program with a specialty in Theater.

Jisu Kim (she/her). Senior marketing, sales, and publicity manager at The Feminist Press.

Claudia Castro Luna (she/her). WA State Poet Laureate (2018–2021). Author of many collections including Killing Marias: A Poem For Multiple Voices.

Ijeoma Oluo (she/her). Writer, speaker, and internet yeller. Author of So You Want to Talk About Race and Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America.

Sondra Simone Segundo (she/her). Haida singer, artist, educator. Author of Killer Whale Eyes.

Roxy Szal (she/her). Digital Editor, Ms. magazine; podcast producer, “On the Issues” with Michele Goodwin.