Meet Unleash!
Jen Knox
Executive Director
Founder of Unleash Creatives, Jen Knox is an educator and storyteller who teaches writing, leadership, and meditation. She is the author of We Arrive Uninvited (Steel Toe Books Award Winner) and The Glass City (Press Americana Prize for Prose). Her short fiction and nonfiction can be found in Chicago Tribune, Five South, The Saturday Evening Post, and more. The recent recipient of CutBank’s Montana Prize in Nonfiction and Honorable Mention for the 2023 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest, Jen is currently working on a series of essays on work. She recently received a grant from the Ohio Arts Council to support a collection of essays on her day jobs from ages fourteen to twenty-two.
Check out Jen's writing and author site here.
She coaches writers 1:1 on a limited basis and is dedicated to championing new literary voices.
Chris Shanahan
Artistic Director
Chris Shanahan is an economist and artist who specializes in portraits, murals, infographics, data visualization, multimedia painting, typography (or *legal* graffiti), acrylic, oil, and illustrations for children's books as well as book cover design.
Chris's customized portraits range from amusing to realistic. He is also an Excel wizard.
See Chris's artwork here. Connect with him about business graphics or custom illustrations here.
Ashley Holloway
Editorial Director
Self-proclaimed logophile and devourer of books, Ashley Holloway teaches writing classes and healthcare leadership in Calgary, AB, Canada. She writes in a variety of genres, including fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and poetry, with work appearing across Canada and the US. Ashley has co-authored three books (with Jen Knox!) and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Richard McPherson
Special Projects Chair (and author)
Richard C. McPherson's short stories have been called "beautifully honest," appearing in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Unleash Press, and The Write Launch. “Man Wanted in Cheyenne,” his short story, received an award in Living Springs Publishing's international short fiction contest and appeared in their 2017 anthology, Stories Through the Ages. The rich backstory of Its iconic protagonist, Jake, is now the subject of a new novel, Man Wanted in Cheyenne, available in paperback and Kindle at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Unleash Creatives. After the publication of his book, Richard was invited to be a part of the Unleash board and graciously agreed.
Prior to his writing career, Dick advised leading nonprofits on messaging and digital strategy, including NPR and PBS stations, and the New York Public Library. He advised Stand for Rights, a pioneering live stream fundraiser for the ACLU, produced by Tina Fey and hosted by Tom Hanks, and which earned Facebook its first Emmy nomination.
Carol Fischbach
Publications Co-Chair
Carol Fischbach is a writer with an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, a retired RN, Reiki master, and a student archetype with several other degrees, but her favorite classroom is everyday life and listening to and reading others’ stories. Writing is the portal through which she enters her life, seeks insight, reframes it, forgives it. Her essay Butterflies, Berries, and Beef won 2nd place in the WBNA 2020 Creative Nonfiction Contest. She has been published in Khora, Propeller, Nailed Magazine, Oregon East, Tide Pools, and the Port Townsend Leader. She has written and performed several monologues with Beth Dunnington Bornstein’s Performing the Story groups. She has also performed at ROAR, a platform for fierce feminine storytelling. She is currently working on a memoir.
Felix Ramos
Reader
Meet Felix. He has his Bachelor's Degree in Creative Writing from Stockton University. His writing is full of magic, fantasy, and passion. He enjoys writing young adult, magical realism, sci-fi, and fantasy fiction. When he is not writing he is finding new hobbies to keep his creative mind running. These days those hobbies are collecting gemstones, meditating, herbology, and learning to draw. His adaptability and curiosity is found in the various genres he reads and also writes about. His most recent story, "Monsters aren’t Real," can be found in Stockton’s journal, Stockpot 2022.
Christina Valentine Larsen
Publications Co-Chair
Christina Valentine Larsen lives in Vancouver WA. Tina loves to be in nature walking and hugging trees, spending time with family and friends and reading. She is a teacher, retired nurse, Reiki master and author. Her first book My Own Darling: A Love Story for the Ages from the Greatest Generation was published in 2017. She is currently working on a memoir An Uneven Life: Grief and Other Shenanigans.
Tyler Bolich
Editor
Tyler Bolich, author of "The Monkey in my Room," is a writer hailing from South Jersey who specializes in Flash Fiction, though he dabbles in Novels, short stories, and poetry as well. Tyler studied creative writing, literature, and editing at Stockton University. Keep an eye out, because he is a pretty chill dude.
Tiffany Sciacca
Reader, Editor
Tiffany Sciacca was born in a small town, fled her small town, and is back again. She is a poet new to the Flash Fiction genre, whose work has appeared in SmokeLong Quarterly, MER, Pidgeonholes, and Blink-Ink. When not writing, she watches horror movies and haunts thrift stores.
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Barbori Garnet
Administrative Assistant
Barbori Garnet is the author of The Gift of Journaling: Writing as a Path to Discovery (Garnet Creek Productions, 2024) and Home at the Office: Working Remotely as a Way of Life (Atmosphere Press, September 2021). She is a writer, artist, musician, and gardener based in Alberta. Her other interests include reading, tennis, and enjoying cups of tea with family and friends.
Barbori has a BFA in Painting & Drawing from Academy of Art University and an MA Communications in Public Relations from Southern New Hampshire University.
Check out her site here.