Board of Directors

Dylan Roche
President

Dylan Roche is a novelist, playwright, journalist, copywriter, blogger, editor, and creative writing coach with years of professional experience in a breadth of writing-related endeavors. Whether he’s writing magazine features about fitness and nutrition, farcical sitcoms for the stage, or ad copy for small businesses, he loves connecting with and resonating with readers. His first novel, The Purple Bird, a YA fantasy adventure, debuted in 2019. He lives in Annapolis with his dog, Tyrion the corgi, and when he’s not writing, he can usually be found going on long-distance runs. Visit him online at www.dylanrochewriter.com

Tara A. Elliott
Executive Director, Co-Chair: Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, Past President (2020-2022)

Tara A. Elliott’s poems have appeared in TAOS Journal of International Poetry & Art, The American Journal of Poetry, Stirring, and Ninth Letter, among others. President of the Eastern Shore Writers Association, she is also the founder and director of Salisbury Poetry Week, and co-chair of the annual Bay to Ocean Writers Conference. A recent winner of Maryland State Arts Council’s Independent Artist Award, she has work forthcoming in Cimarron Review.  For more about Tara, visit: https://www.taraaelliott.com

Kenton Kilgore
Treasurer, Co-Chair: Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, Past President (2018-2020)

Kenton Kilgore is the author of Hand-Selling Books: Making Money and Winning Fans, a how-to guide to help authors sell books in person. He has published four young adult sci-fi/fantasy novels--This Wasted Land, Lost Dogs, Stray Cats, and Dragontamer's Daughters-- as well as the children's picture books Our Wild Place, Pimmi Makes a Friend, and How the Kangal Got Her Mask. Kenton and his family live on Kent Island, Maryland.  Website: www.kentonkilgore.com

Emily Rich
Managing Editor: Bay to Ocean Journal, Member at Large

Emily Rich is managing editor of ESWA’s Bay to Ocean Journal. Previously, she was editor of the Delmarva Review and nonfiction editor. Emily has taught memoir writing at the Bethesda Writer’s Center and through the Lighthouse Guild at Salisbury University. Her work has been published in The Pinch, Cutbank, Hippocampus, Delmarva Review, and Little Patuxent Review, among others.

Fran Severn
Past President (2018), Member at Large

She has over 200 credits in regional, national, and international publications, writing about everything from PEEPS (yes, the little yellow marshmallow birds) to the ethics of in utero surgery. An avid horsewoman, she contributes to several equine-centric magazines. Her book, Riders of a Certain Age: A Guide for Older Women who Love Horses, is scheduled for release in 2022. Hanging over her desk in her home office in Salisbury is a picture of Severus Snape asking, “Shouldn’t you be writing right now?” You can view her writing at:  www.severnwriter.com

Leslie Walker
Media & Member at Large

Leslie Walker is a journalist who spent 16 years writing and editing news for The Washington Post and 12 years teaching multimedia journalism at the University of Maryland's journalism school. She has presented at a wide variety of writing conferences around the country and is the author of Sudden Fury, a New York Times bestselling nonfiction book that was made into an NBC TV movie. Besides writing, her favorite activities are making jewelry at her home in Easton, MD and walking Lucy, her West Highland Terrier.

Nina Craig
Member at Large

Nina Craig is Ojibwe/Odawa, enrolled in the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Her family has deep roots in the Upper Peninsula and northwestern lower Michigan. Since 2016, Nina has been taking classes at The Writers Center in Bethesda, MD and at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. She resides in Kalamazoo to be near her children and grandchildren and writes poetry, short stories and is working on her memoir.

Wes Davis
Member at Large

Wes Davis is a musician, composer, lyricist, poet, educator, public speaker, former member of the clergy and self-described “gonzo anthropologist.” His Master of Divinity degree is from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, where he also studied at the Catholic University of America and Howard University School of Divinity. Though he no longer identifies with any religion, he appreciates wisdom wherever it is found, and seeks to follow an inclusive path of compassion and justice. He has taught as an adjunct at Salisbury University. Wes has performed originals and classic rock covers at many popular music venues in Delaware and Maryland and in other parts of the US. Also he did two brief musical tours in South Asia. He has written speeches to introduce dignitaries, including Nobel laureates. Wes lives with his wife, Jackie, in Salisbury, MD and has five children, two step daughters and some super cute grand dogs.

Christopher T. George
Member at Large

Christopher T. George was born in Liverpool, England, in 1948. He emigrated to the US in 1955 but returned home to experience the “Swinging Sixties.” He re-emigrated to the US in 1968 and studied poetry with Sister Maura Eichner and Elliott Coleman. He has been published in such journals as Poet Lore, Smoke, Bogg, Electric Acorn, Anti-Heroin Chic, and Triplopia. A former editor at Loch Raven Review, Chris has a poetry site at http://chrisgeorge.netpublish.net/. After residing in Maryland for some five decades, he currently lives with his wife Donna and sister-in-law Lisa in Newark, Delaware. In addition to his creative writing, Chris is an artist, song lyricist, and a published historian of the War of 1812 and Jack the Ripper.  He served as treasurer and president of the Maryland State Poetry Society in the 1970’s.

David Healey
Member at Large

Chesapeake City resident David Healey has written more than 20 novels and nonfiction books. He spent 21 years as a journalist and now teaches full-time for an online university. He is a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, monthly magazine for the International Thriller Writers. He enjoys Delmarva history and looks forward to connecting with other regional writers at Bay to Ocean and other ESWA events. Visit him online at https://davidhealeyauthor.com

Caroline Kalfas
Member at Large

Caroline Kalfas is a former newspaper journalist who lives in Woolwich Township, New Jersey. Her poetry and essays have appeared in various literary magazines including The Next Chapter, frogpond, Philadelphia Stories and Bay to Ocean. She is a student in the Newport MFA program at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island.

David Kozinski
Member at Large

David P. Kozinski  received an Established Professional Poetry Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts. His full-length book of poems, Tripping Over Memorial Day, was published by Kelsay Books. He received the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize, which included publication of his chapbook, Loopholes (Broadkill Press). Kozinski was named 2018 Mentor of the Year by Expressive Path, a nonprofit that facilitates youth participation in the arts. He serves on the board of the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center and the editorial board of Philadelphia Stories. He is art editor of the Schuylkill Valley Journal and Rockwood Park & Museum's resident poet. Recently published in North of Oxford, Broadkill Review, One Art.

Christy Manning
Member at Large

Christy Manning started writing creatively in high school when an English teacher gave a journal writing assignment in class; Christy made up an adventure, and that was her discovery of the wonderfully exciting world of creative writing. Christy has recently written a children’s book, has ventured into poetry but her first love is women’s fiction with two completed pieces. She is a multidisciplinary artist and considers herself a creative entrepreneur. Christy is also a member of the Salisbury Wicomico Art Council, The Lower Shore Writer’s group and Maryland State Arts Council. Christy is an Eastern Shore native; she is a lifelong resident of Fruitland, where she lives with her husband, David. They have five children, five grandchildren, and two dogs—Dumpling, a Pitbull that doesn’t know she’s a dog, and Charlie, a Great Dane living his best life after rescue. Website: Christy Manning Studio – Creative Entrepreneur

Jackie Oldham
Member at Large

Jackie Oldham (she/her) is a poet/ essayist/blogger/photographer/musician from Baltimore, MD. Her poems have appeared in Oddball Magazine, Rigorous Magazine, Spillwords Press, and the book A Lovely Place, A Fighting Place, A Charmer: The Baltimore Anthology. She is a contributing writer for the Baltimore Jazz Alliance Newsletter. Her favorite poets include Edgar Allan Poe, whose works she reads annually at the New Year's Eve Poe remembrance at Westminster Burial Ground, and Lucille Clifton, whose works she has studied in ESWA's online poetry forums. She has also served as a Room Host for the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference. For more information about Jackie, go to https://baltimoreblackwoman.com.

Willie Schatz
Member at Large

Willie Schatz graduated from the same high school as Louise Gluck, though she is slightly more recognizable. He received his J.D. from Georgetown Law School and practiced for three years before moving to Miami to be a sportswriter.  He's been a business writer for The Washington Post and a freelancer for The New York Daily News.  He taught English for two decades at the University of Maryland. A published poet, he also is the Writers Artist-in-Residence at Street Sense, D.C.’s paper for and about the homeless. He and his spouse Molly split their time between D.C. and Lewes.