ABOUT US
Charlotte Gullick
Charlotte Gullick is a novelist, essayist, editor, educator and former Department Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College. She is currently the ECMC Foundation Program Manager, Exploring Transfer Together Initiative at Vassar College. A first-generation college graduate, she received her AA with High Honors from Santa Rosa Junior College, a BA with Honors in Literature/Creative Writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a MA in English/Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis. She completed her MFA in Creative Nonfiction at the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2016.
Charlotte's first novel, By Way of Water, was chosen by Jayne Anne Phillips as the Grand Prize winner of the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards Program, and a special author's edition was reissued by the Santa Fe Writers Project in November of 2013. Her work has been published in Brevity, The Rumpus, The Forge, The Best of Brevity, and Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose, among others. Her other awards include a Christopher Isherwood Fellowship for Fiction, a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship for Poetry, residencies at Macdowell, Ragdale, and San Ysidro as well as the Evergreen State College 2012 Teacher Excellence Award, a NISOD Teaching Award, and the Gold Star for Teaching and Mentorship from American Short Fiction. Charlotte’s work often explores the intersection of landscape, legacy, family, and identity, and she believes deeply in the power of story to create healing and coherence. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter. |
Melinda Rothouse
Melinda Rothouse is a professional creativity, leadership, and career coach, consultant, and educator, as well as a musician, songwriter, and performer. She is the founder of Austin Writing Coach and performs under the artist name of Melinda Joy. She is the creator and host of the new podcast Syncreate: Empowering Creativity, exploring the intersections of creativity, psychology, and creativity, and expanding the boundaries of what it means to be creative.
Melinda a professor of Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership at Saybrook University, as well as the author of the bestselling book A Mindful Approach to Team Creativity and Collaboration: Creating a Culture of Innovation, published in 2020 by Palgrave Macmillan. Her own writing and creative practices are informed by a lifelong love of learning, by an emphasis on journey and process, and by her involvement and training in meditation practice and the contemplative arts. She brings a commitment to mindfulness, deep listening, and engaged collaboration to her coaching and teaching work. Melinda’s approach to teaching and coaching draw on the principles of learner-centered education and positive / humanistic psychology, as well as 20 years of experience and training as an educator, musician, and performer. She enjoys working in close collaboration with clients to enhance their creativity and develop their confidence. Melinda holds a Ph.D. in Psychology with a Specialization in Creativity Studies from Saybrook University, as well as B.A. in Biopsychology from Vassar College, and Master’s degrees in Religious Studies from Indiana University and Performance Studies from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She has taught writing and religious studies at a number of colleges and universities around the country. Melinda is an avid traveler, leading workshops retreats both in the US and internationally. She splits her home time between Austin and the Texas Hill Country. |
