ITALIAN LANGUAGE — ALL LEVELS

Born in Rome, Italy, Maria Adelaide Basile received her Master in Contemporary Italian Literature from the University of Rome La Sapienza and her Ph.D in Medieval Italian Literature from Rutgers University in United States. She taught Italian language and literature at Rutgers University, at the College of Charleston and at John Cabot University in Rome. She read her papers at several conferences, and has published several essays on Dante, Nievo, Manzoni, and the filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo. In addition, Dr. Basile has worked as theater critic for several newspapers, and translated and introduced the poems of the French poet Alain Bosquet and the American poet Anne Carson. Her main areas of interest are the Middle Ages, Italian Theater, and Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Italian literature. She is also a published poet. Dr Basile’s publications include an essay on the Italian writer Piero Sanavio, Caterina Cornaro o del potere, published by Il Mulino and a collection of poems, Viaggi (Travels), Campanotto, November 2014. 

CREATIVE WRITING

Brenda Bowen has the unusual advantage of having seen publishing from all sides. She is the author of Enchanted August, published by Pamela Dorman Books/Penguin, and the forthcoming novel The Emergency Book Club (William Morrow, 2027). She has edited books that have won the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal; she is the agent of authors who have been #1 NYTimes bestsellers, and whose books sold in the millions of copies. Under the pen name Margaret McNamara, she’s also the author of more than forty children’s books, many of which have been in print more than twenty years. Currently a literary agent at The Book Group, Brenda lives and works in New York City and Maine.

thebookgroup.com/brendabowen

VISUAL ARTS — PAINTING

C. Finley, Founder and Curator of the Every Woman Biennial and is known for her elaborate paintings, intense use of color, monumental murals, multi-disciplinary collaborations, and her activism through urban art interventions, including her acclaimed Wallpapered Dumpsters. As the creator of the 2014-2021 Every Woman Biennial she has exhibited 1200 female and non-binary artists in New York, Los Angeles and London. Finley has shown internationally and her work has been featured in the The New York Times, La Repubblica, Dazed, Fast Company, Women’s Wear Daily, Cultured, and more.

iamfinley.com

CREATIVE WRITING

Bob Hughes, formerly with The Wall Street Journal where he honed his skills in cultural journalism, is the author of “Late and Soon,” which was cited for its elegant prose and rich character development, earning praise from noted authors like Adriana Trigiani and Edmund White. He is also a playwright, currently polishing his new work, “A Constant Life.” His writing continues to reflect his diverse interests and expertise. Currently splitting his time between New York and Paris, Bob shares his insights and experiences of French life on his blog, Parisian on Purpose.

VISUAL ARTS

Elliot Kreloff is an award-winning children’s book author/illustrator arts educator and designer. His career as creative director for Scholastic Books, Disney Publishing Worldwide, MacMillan Publishing and his own studio, Design Five, has spanned over forty years. As an arts educator, he has taught at Parsons School of Design, New York Institute of Technology, Rutgers University and Fordham University. His books have been awarded Best Book of the Year by Child Magazine, and he has received numerous awards from various professional design organizations and publications including the Bookbinders Guild, Art Direction, Communication Arts and the Society of Illustrators. He is a graduate of Cooper Union and holds a master’s degree from Hunter College. You can find many of his books on his author’s page on Amazon.

VISUAL ARTS — NEEDLEWORK

Liz Collins is an artist based in New York City known for her innovative and experimental work in fabric, yarn, and other materials associated with textile media. Collins frequently explores the dichotomy of structure and entropy—qualities inherent to textile that speak to the fissures present in broader architectural, political, and social structures. Collins’ work has recently been on view in the 60th Venice Biennale, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and The Museum of Modern Art. Liz Collins: Motherlode, Collins’ mid-career retrospective at the RISD Museum in Providence, RI, ran from 2025-26 with an accompanying monograph published by Hirmer.

lizcollins.com

VISUAL ARTS — WATERCOLOR

Mario Andres Robinson was born in Altus, Oklahoma and at the age of 12 moved with his family to New Jersey. Robinson studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York where early on he was influenced by Degas, Rembrandt, and Vermeer among others. His work fits squarely within the tradition of American painting with a close affinity to the masters of the realist tradition—Eakins, Homer, Hopper, and Andrew Wyeth. Robinson’s work has been featured in The Artist’s Magazine, The Pastel Journal, Watercolor Magic, American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur and on the cover of American Artist. In the February, 2006 issue of The Artist’s Magazine, Mario was selected as one of the top 20 realist artists under the age of 40. He is the author of “Lessons in Realistic Watercolor,” a comprehensive guide of the artist’s watercolor techniques (Monacelli Press). In 2014, Robinson was chosen to be a Brand Ambassador for Winsor and Newton art materials.

marioarobinson.com

CREATIVE WRITING

S.J. Rozan is the author of eighteen novels and more than 75 short stories, and the editor of three anthologies. She has won multiple awards for both novel and short story, including the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, Macavity; Japanese Maltese Falcon; and the Private Eye Writers of America Life Achievement Award. She teaches and lectures widely and has been a Master Artist at The Atlantic Center for the Arts and Writer-in-Residence at Singapore Management University. Her most recent novel is Family Business.

sjrozan.net

CREATIVE WRITING

Barbara Shoup is the author of eight novels for adults and young adults, a memoir, and two books about the creative process. Her YA novels have been named to the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, the Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book; Voya Best Young Adult Book and Perfect 10, and the International Reading Association’s Young Adults Choice List. The recipient of the PEN Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, Lilly Endowment Creative Renewal Fellowships, and fellowships from the Ragdale Foundation, she is the Writer-in-Residence at the Indiana Writers Center. Her most recent novel is Looking for Jack Kerouac.

barbarashoup.com