Michigan Writers’ Mission
Michigan Writers is a place where writers build community
About Michigan Writers
Michigan Writers, Inc. was launched in the summer of 2001 when more than two dozen Traverse City-area writers pooled talents and resources to form a group dedicated to helping writers hone their craft and publish their work.
We host regular events where members can meet and mingle, including potluck buffets, workshops, and writers critique groups. We publish Dunes Review and operate the MW Cooperative Press, which publishes chapbooks by members.
We hold workshops on all aspects of writing and publishing for writers at all levels of their development. And we help members keep in touch and informed through this web site and through MW News, a regular e-mail newsletter.
Our membership continues to grow as we find new ways to support and enhance our community of writers and readers. So now that you know who we are and what we do…
Won’t you join us?
2026-2027 Board of Directors
Steven Brown
President, Special Projects
Steve Brown was born in Flint, Michigan, and studied art in Detroit and Germany, where his essay collection Glänze, Gespenst! was published in 2015. He is the author of the poetry collections Trample & Sew, News of Need, and Fellowship. He has published essays, stories, and poems in Witness, Black Warrior Review, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere, garnering two Pushcart Prize nominations. He has worked numerous labor jobs over several decades and since 2017 has led a nonprofit in Kalamazoo, Michigan. More information can be found at Stevenmatthewbrown.com.
Robb Astor
Secretary, Zoom co-host, DR distribution, Social Media
Robb Astor is a poet, and author of a poetry chapbook Bitter Dagaa (2014). He is a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in Tanzania from 1993 to 1995. Robb hosts a monthly open mic for poets and musicians and facilitates a weekly poetry workshop for people experiencing homelessness. Recently retired after more than 30 years as an IT professional, Robb’s work reflects a commitment to community, creativity, and cross-cultural understanding.
Mary Bevans Gillett
Treasurer
Mary Bevans Gillett is a retired arts administrator, writer and consultant based in Ann Arbor and Traverse City, Michigan. She is the former executive director of the Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network and the Region 2 Regrant Coordinator for Michigan Arts & Culture Council. Mary was the project manager and co-editor for Transformational: Stories of Northern Michigan Arts & Culture, the co-author of The Insiders’ Guide to Michigan’s Traverse Bay Region and a former regular contributor to the Grand Traverse Business News, the Traverse City Record-Eagle, Grand Traverse Woman, among others. She currently serves as board treasurer for Michigan Writers and is a board member of Creative Washtenaw and the Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan.
Miranda (Mandy) Keskes
Membership, Regional Ambassador program
Miranda Keskes is a fiction book coach, author, and educator. Her fiction has been nominated for Best Microfiction and Best Small Fictions and has been published in several literary journals, including Cleaver, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Blink-Ink, and Does it Have Pockets. In addition to book coaching, she is a creative writing instructor for the Traverse City National Writers Series. Miranda writes a weekly newsletter called Yes, You Can Write a Novel, and you can join her in The Teachers’ Lounge on Substack. Learn more at keskesink.com.
Anne-Marie Oomen
Educational Events, Newsletter Editor
Anne-Marie Oomen received the Michigan Author Award for 2024. She is a poet, playwright, essayist, and memoirist. Her nine books and individual essays have earned a variety of honors, including five Michigan Notable Book Awards and the AWP Sue Silverman Award for Creative Nonfiction for her memoir As Long As I Know You: the Mom Book (University of Georgia Press). Her most recent collection is The Long Fields: Essays of Comfort and Home. She has taught Poetry Workshops and Life Writing at the Interlochen College of Creative Arts, and at conferences and workshops throughout the country.
Bruce L. Makie
Chapbook Director and Liaison, Michigan Playwrights Project
Bruce L. Makie was born and raised in Detroit, and spent his formative years crisscrossing the country on motorcycles, hopping trains, and hitchhiking. Among publications that featured his work are the Detroit Free Press, Bicycling Magazine, the American Motorcyclist, Dunes Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, the Great Lakes Review and Jewishfiction.net. Makie has published two collections of short stories, Fathers and Sons (Michigan Writers Cooperative Press) and Slipshod and Standing (Finishing Line Press). He is managing editor of the Michigan Writers Cooperative Press, and a playwright who serves as a liaison to the Michigan Writers Playwrights Project.
Jennifer Yeatts
Co-editor, Dunes Review
Jennifer Yeatts’ literary life has included MA and MFA degrees in poetry, a small smattering of literary journal publications, teaching in various forms, and editorial roles at Passages North, Fugue, and Dunes Review. She runs the Higher Grounds Coffee Learning Lab in Traverse City, Michigan, where she teaches people how to brew and enjoy coffee.
Teresa Scollon
Co-editor, Dunes Review
Teresa Scollon is a poet, essayist, and author of four poetry collections: No Trouble Staying Awake (Cornerstone Press); Trees and Other Creatures (Alice Greene & Co); To Embroider the Ground with Prayer (Wayne State University Press), and Friday Nights the Whole Town Goes to the Basketball Game (Michigan Writers Cooperative Press). Scollon is a National Endowment for the Arts fellow and won the 2018 Moveen Poetry Prize. She is an alumna of and former writer-in-residence at Interlochen Arts Academy. She teaches the Writers Studio program at North Ed Career Tech in Traverse City, and co-edits the Dunes Review.