Staff
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Katharine Herndon was a fan of James River Writers even before they hired her. She has attended every conference and well over a hundred Writing Shows. Before becoming ED, she was on the board in a variety of roles, including executive secretary, co-chair of the 2011 conference committee, and membership chair. Throughout her time with JRW, she has prioritized service to the literary community, and has served as a judge for the Virginia High School League and the local Scholastic awards, as well as being a panelist for selecting the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s first Writer in Residence, Richmond’s first Poet Laureate, and a Virginia Commission for the Arts Artist Fellowship in Poetry. Katharine’s work has been published by RVA indie press Sink/Swim in The Great Richmond Zombie Book and appears in the anthology River Town, and the Richmond-based anthology River City Secrets. More recently, she published a chapter in Launch Pad: Countdown to Marketing Your Book, and a craft piece in the Wellspring Literary Journal on beating imposter syndrome. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, Davidson College, and St. Catherine’s School. (@kaherndon)
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Ty Phelps moved to Richmond in 2019, and attended his first James River Writers conference that fall as a first-year MFA candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University. Since then, he earned that MFA in Fiction & Creative Nonfiction in 2022, served as VCU’s 2021–22 Cabell First Novelist Award Fellow, and taught creative writing classes as an adjunct professor. He served as the 2023–24 Writer-in-Residence at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, where he now teaches speculative fiction workshops. A long time educator with an MA in Teaching, Ty has also taught courses at Mechanicsville High School, Reynolds Community College, Randolph-Macon College, and with Richmond Young Writers. He’s enjoyed a handful more JRW conferences, too, and had the pleasure of moderating panels and emceeing the poetry luncheon the past two years, and is delighted to be joining the team officially. Ty won the 2022 Nancy Ludmerer Flash Fiction Fellowship and Virginia Commonwealth University’s 2019 Catherine and Joan Byrne Poetry Prize, and his work can be found at Poets.org, Barstow & Grand, Poet Lore, Streetlight, Zizzle, and elsewhere. He is co-founder and co-host of the Flying South Reading Series and assists with planning Richmond Poetry Fest. Ty is currently finishing a fantasy novel and a short story collection. When not writing, he is an enthusiastic drummer for local bands Jojo & the Kick Its and Summer School, and has begun composing a handful of songs on the banjo.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR
Clarissa Bannor is a writer, communications strategist, and passionate advocate for the arts. With over a decade of experience in marketing and community engagement, she thrives on building connections and fostering creative communities. As JRW’s Membership Director, she’s excited to support and grow Richmond’s literary scene. When she’s not working on her novel, Clarissa curates rvaLiteraryArts.com, a calendar of the local literary arts scene. She’s always on the lookout for a good story, a cozy reading spot, and the perfect cup of tea.
Board of Directors
BOARD CHAIR
VICE CHAIR
Ran Walker is the author of twenty-one books. His short stories, flash fiction, microfiction, and poetry have appeared in a variety of anthologies and journals. He is the winner of the Indie Author Project\’s 2019 National Indie Author of the Year Award (selected by judges from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, IngramSpark, St. Martin\’s Press, and Writer\’s Digest), the 2019 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Best Fiction Ebook Award, and the 2018 Virginia Indie Author Project Award for Adult Fiction. Ran has taught workshops across the country, including Writer\’s Digest conferences in both New York and L.A., and is an Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Hampton University. Prior to becoming a writer and educator, he worked in magazine publishing and practiced law in Mississippi.
SECRETARY
Alethea McCollin is a playwright, producer, director, and shoe addict. She has produced her work locally and has presented them at various theatre festivals nationally. Her most recent production is of The Stilettos Monologue – a show that celebrates women – runs for three nights September 30 – October 01, 2022. Alethea is a member of the Dramatist Guild, and Virginia Screenwriters Forum, and also serves on several local boards. Alethea loves working out, is a passionate gardener, and loves to bake, though she says, she still hasn’t mastered either pastime.
TREASURER
Nikki Savoy is a woman who dreams of joy and justice and writes about the intersection of Black love and Black pain in search of the two. She writes stories she craves to read, stories for and about Black women. Nikki’s love for words blossomed long before she recognized her unique voice. Alongside her novels, she is a poet and singer-songwriter who cherishes laughter, travel, and delicious food. Writing under her pen name, she is represented by Jessica Faust of BookEnds Literary Agency. In her professional life, Nikki serves as a Senior Vice President in the finance industry, boasting over 25 years of experience in strategy and implementation. A member of James River Writers, she resides in Richmond, Virginia, the city where she was born and raised, and lives there with her husband and their youngest of five children.
BOARD MEMBER
Jean Anderson writes genre fiction when she’s not devouring story through films, TV, comics, and books, or enjoying the writing life with people of all ages. She served as a volunteer with National Novel Writing Month for fifteen years, organizing write-ins and celebrations and presenting its Young Writers Program to area schools. JRW awarded her the Emyl Jenkins Award for this work. She helped empower RVA youth to build writing skills as a Program Lead with Podium RVA. She also enjoys road trips and keeping in touch with her scattered family, including eleven international exchange students hosted over the years. Jean earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies for Anthropology and English from Arizona State University and is delighted to be a member and supporter of James River Writers.
BOARD MEMBER
Rosa Castellano is a writer and teacher whose work has been supported with a year-long fellowship from the Visual Arts Center of Richmond and by Tin House. She received an MFA in poetry from Virginia Commonwealth University and in 2021 was a finalist for Cave Canem’s Starshine and Clay Fellowship. Her work can be found or is forth coming at the South Hampton Review, Alternating Current Press and EcoTheo Review.
BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Krystle Dandridge is the owner of the BookBar bookstore and Soulful Expressions
Counseling Services.
BOARD MEMBER
BOARD MEMBER
Nick George is a poet and teacher from Newark, New Jersey, and currently based in Richmond. He is the author of three books of poetry: Just Some Stuff I Wrote Down (2009), EL-OH-VEE-EE (2010), and Carnegie Halls in Shower Stalls (2023). He has performed at venues such as TedXCharlottesville, American Psychology Association Annual Convention, University of Lynchburg, and Opera Roanoke. His poems and performances have been commissioned by Greater Public and the Academy Center of the Arts. His work dwells at the intersection of culture, identity and spirituality. He has been writing, performing, and teaching for more than two decades.
BOARD MEMBER
Phillip Hilliker is a creatively restless writer and illustrator with credits spanning many fields and genres. He has contributed to role-playing games such as Shadowrun and White Wolf’s World of Darkness, written voiceover scripts for too many whiteboard explanatory videos, and spent time as JRW’s membership coordinator. Currently he’s employed by a puzzle company to draw primarily sports-centric projects.
BOARD MEMBER
Catie-Reagan King, Ed.D. is an educator, designer, and editor who loves all things storytelling. She has been published in several academic journals, including Higher Education Quarterly and Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, along with article features in RVA Mag and ElevAATE, among others. Her writing and research interests include interdisciplinary arts integration, design thinking, and visual culture. When she’s not in the writing world, she spends most of her free time in community theatre. As the former Membership Director at James River Writers, she is excited to continue supporting the writing community as a board member.
BOARD MEMBER
Amy Lacey is an Emmy award-winning journalist with nearly 30 years of television, digital, radio, and public relations experience. Amy is currently the Director of Local Programming at WTVR-TV CBS6, a role that includes co-hosting the talk and entertainment show Virginia This Morning. Amy received undergraduate degrees in journalism and psychology from Duquesne University and completed a journalism program at American University. She also earned certificates in digital marketing and leadership from the University of Richmond. Amy is a regular guest speaker and emcee in the Richmond area and serves in several volunteer leadership roles including the boards for the Public Relations Society of America-Richmond and March of Dimes-DMV chapters, the Virginia Cancer Conference marketing committee, and Fresh Start. When she isn’t working, Amy enjoys exploring new places with her favorite plus one, her almost seven-year-old daughter Rowan Kate.
BOARD MEMBER
BOARD MEMBER
