Philadelphia Regional Chapter

Judy Ha is a left-handed hybrid form writer and poet who brings worlds that are worlds apart, together. Belonging nowhere and everywhere, she writes what haunts, what fails, and what remains unseen. Her work lives at the intersection of many violences in American life. They are the 2020 Sandol Stoddard Grant recipient for Gifted Undergraduate Writers from Hampshire College. Judy is the Spotlight Creator in Collide Zine Philly’s Issue 8, with published poetry in their Issue 9. Her two poetry pieces, “A Miracle of Child” and “Closing Doors,” are both published in InParentheses Magazine. She is internationally published with Wingless Dreamer Lit, featuring “An Ode to Artists.” Judy favors the bold and untold. They are currently working on their debut book “Other Lives.” 

M. L. Rio has been an actor, a bookseller, an academic, and a music writer. An avid road-tripper and record collector, when she’s not on the hunt for her next big score, she lives in South Philadelphia with the world’s best road dog, Marlowe. She holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe and a PhD in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her bestselling first novel, If We Were Villains, has been published in 22 countries. Her first novella, Graveyard Shift, was a USA Today and Sunday Times bestseller. Her second novel, Hot Wax, was published by Simon & Schuster in September 2025, and is a USA Today and Indie bestseller.

Devon Rohana is a Philly-based writer. Sheworks for the Free Library of Philadelphia, where she runs a citywide early literacy initiative for educators. Though she reads widely, she writes primarily for children. She has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University. Mister in the Stars, which earned a starred review from Kirkus, is her picture book debut.