Welcome New Authors & Our 2026 Writer-in-Residence, Lauren Camp

Risa Denenberg lives on the Olympic peninsula in Washington state where she works as a nurse practitioner and volunteers with End-of-Life Washington. During a decades-long career in healthcare, she has worked in family medicine, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, women’s health, and hospice and palliative care. She is a co-founder of Headmistress Press, publisher of books of poetry by lesbian-identified women, and curator at The Poetry Café Online.

Dr. Karen-Marie Scolforo grew up in a blue-collar family, with parents who modeled kindness, integrity, and a strong work ethic. She credits these characteristics for her own professional and academic success.

Scolforo holds a Master of Fine Arts in fiction from the Mountain View Low Residency Program at Southern New Hampshire University, a Master of Arts in writing and literature from Rivier University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of North Florida, for which she conducted a 2010 research study of Catholic Sisters who have served as College Presidents, inspiring her earlier novel, Sublime Dignity.

Lauren Camp is the author of nine books, most recently Is Is Enough (Texas Review Press, 2026) and In Old Sky (Grand Canyon Conservancy, 2024), which she wrote as Astronomer-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park. Other honors include fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and Black Earth Institute, a Dorset Prize, and finalist citations for the Arab American Book Award and Adrienne Rich Award. Her poems have been translated into Mandarin, Turkish, Spanish, French, and Arabic. She served as the second New Mexico Poet Laureate (2022-25). www.laurencamp.com