Executive Officers

Collin Glavac, President

Collin Glavac is a #1 Bestselling Amazon author. He moved to Newfoundland two years ago with no job, friends, or family in town, but purely to write by the ocean.

Collin completed his B.A. and M.A. at Brock University. He has written, directed, and acted in two original stage plays and has written four self-published books. Collin performs improv with St. John’s Improv in town, and you can also catch him hand-selling his books at local markets and events.

Collin is the fortunate recipient of an ArtsNL grant, and his work has been featured in WritersNL’s Nightmare on George Street and WORD Magazine. He served this last year as the St. John’s 1-year representative on the board and chair of the WORD Magazine committee. He is eager to get more involved in WritersNL, continue to work on his craft, and meet more scrappy writers!

Mandie Thomson, Vice President

Mandie Thomson moved to the west coast of NL from Ontario in 2023. She’s been writing fiction since public school and still writes as often as she can. Mandie joined a supportive online writer’s group in 2023.

Mandie earned a Bachelor of Arts with a double-major in English Literature & Cognitive Science of Language and a Master of Arts in English Literature, both from McMaster University. She recently earned a Library & Information Technician Diploma with honours from Mohawk College. She currently works as a Library Technician for the College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville and is a substitute Library Technician/Library Assistant with the provincial public libraries.

Mandie has been serving as the Vice-President of the Board of Directors for WritersNL since February 2024 and hopes to continue in this role.

Ali Farhang, Treasurer

Ali Farhang is data science student, currently pursuing a master’s in data science at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada. He serves as the head of data science for the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) for the 2023-2024 term. Originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, Ali was forced to leave his home country following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. He was awarded the TechNL scholarship, which has provided critical support for his studies and inspired his family and community in Afghanistan.

Ali has a long history of advocacy and media leadership. He is the Co-founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of the Nawid Naw Weekly Newspaper, where he leads documentary and investigative reporting on human rights issues in Afghanistan. He also served as the Chairperson of the National Advocacy Committee for Public Policy (NAC-PP) and is an active member of the Afghanistan Civil Society Joint Working Group (CS_JWG), focusing on policy reform and civil society empowerment.

Teresita Dziadura, Secretary

Teresita E. Dziadura is a bestselling speculative fiction writer from Newfoundland, Canada, where she lives with her husband, writer cat Loki and her beagle, Frisket. Her debut novel, Corporate Invasion, was launched in May 2021. By day she is employed as an insurance broker, where she helped run the company’s newsletter from 2016 to 2022.

Teresita has served as secretary for the WritersNL board since November 2022. In November 2023 she volunteered to sit as chair of the Events Committee.

Teresita has a history of volunteerism. From 1998-2008 she was leader with a local Sparks unit, and was lead guider from 2000-2008. She has also volunteered with the local Habitat for Humanity, where she’s worked on building homes and other events/locations with that fine organization. As the environment is a passion of hers, she spent two years volunteering with the Junior Forest Wardens in the early 2000’s.

Directors

Stacey Oakley, St. John’s/Avalon Representative (2 year)

Stacey Oakley has lived on both coasts of Canada, and now calls St. John’s home along with her cat, Sophia. She has a Bachelor of Arts, with a Major in Art History & Visual Studies and a Minor in Social Justice Studies and a Post-Grad Diploma in Cultural Resource Management from the University of Victoria as well as a Diploma in Executive Office Administration from the College of the North Atlantic, during which she completed an internship with WritersNL.

She has independently published two novels, Hunter’s Soul and The Necromancer, and four short stories, with sequels to both novels in the works. Her literary interests encompass both fiction and non-fiction, though her own work is primarily fantasy. She enjoys taking on new challenges, whether it’s in writing or in life.

Khadija Rehma, St. John’s/Avalon Representative

Khadija Rehma is a communications professional, fiction writer and mom of two teens and one guinea pig. She currently works as a Communications Manager for the Provincial Government. Khadija’s novel manuscript Dishonourable Daughters was shortlisted in 2022 for the NLCU Fresh Fish Award. She is currently working on a collection of short stories, one of which titled What Could Have Been was selected for the 2023 Arts and Letters Award. Khadija has a BA in English from Coe College, Iowa, where she received the 2003 Paul Engle Award for Creative Writing, and an MPhil in the Humanities from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sheri Singleton, Central/Burin/Bonavista Representative (2 year)

A graduate of Memorial University, Sheri teaches High School English. She lives with her two cats on the beautiful island of Twillingate, NL, a picturesque community of roughly 2500 people off the province’s northeast coast. Her poem The Drive appears in the English 3202 text Vistas used by grade 12 students province-wide. Her poem Sunday Morning, 9 a.m. was nominated for the 2020 Pushcart Prize.
She is currently working on her first novel.

Shelly Kawaja, Western/Labrador Representative (2 year)

Shelly Kawaja is the award-winning author of The Raw Light of Morning. Her short fiction can be found in various magazines across the country such as Horseshoe, Riddle Fence, The Humber Literary Review and The Dalhousie Review. She is the Fiction Reviews editor at The Artisanal Writer, a writing coach for the Moving Memories Project sponsored by the Ontario Arts Council. She is a graduate of UBC’s MFA program, The Humber School for Writers and Memorial University of Newfoundland. She lives in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Leon Chung, Member at Large (3 year)

Leon Chung is a Newfoundland-based cartoonist and illustrator, with a design background (hand-drawn 2D art and animation and traditional painting/drawing). He currently works as a freelance artist/writer, creating illustrations, and written editorial comic pieces for magazines and art journals. His artworks have been recognized provincially and nationally, including by the Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland & Labrador and Canada Council for the Arts, and are displayed at some of the province’s most beloved landmarks, including the Cabot Tower of Signal Hill, Cape Spear Historic Site, and various Heritage Shoppe storefronts across Newfoundland. He has illustrated three children’s books, a cookbook, and drawn/written editorial illustrations for Riddle Fence Art Journal & Magazine and Newfoundland Quarterly, renowned as Canada’s longest running arts and culture magazine. Leon’s first graphic novel, Furusato | 故郷, is an anthology of tales about the bittersweet cycle of love, grief, and coffee.

Jay McGrath, Member at Large (1 year)

Jay McGrath is the author of We’d Rather Fight Than Eat, a speculative fiction novel released in 2023 through Flanker Press. Jay is Chairperson (and occasional host) of the WritersNL Inkpod Podcast Committee and has served in this role for almost two years. Aside from his experience on the Podcast Committee, Jay has over a decade of governance experience. He was Chairperson of a non-profit provincial youth organization and was Vice-Chair of the Avalon Council of the Rural Secretariat.

Originally from Branch and currently residing in Mount Pearl, Jay has been putting pen to paper his whole life. He holds a Master of Arts with a focus on NL History along with a double undergrad in Business Administration and Arts (double major in English and History) from Memorial University. Jay works in the public sector in the field of human resources with a focus in staffing and recruitment.

Nina Rumbolt-Pye, Member at Large

Nina has resided in Mary’s Harbour, Labrador her entire life with the exception of time in St John’s completing a Political Science/English Degree with Memorial University.

Nina has been an active Nunatukavut (NCC) member for nearly 30 years spending half that time on the Governing Council. She currently serves as an Employment, Skills and Development (ESD) Policy Committee member for student funding as well as recently appointed one of the three Board members of the newly formed Nunatukavut Citizenship Committee.

Since retiring from Canada Post, she has been working as a Licensed Substitute Teacher at Bayside Academy, St Lewis Academy and St Mary’s All Grade.
Among her notable volunteer work is Town Mayor, Harbourview Manor Co-Chair, Labrador Regional Appeals Board Member (For Municipal Disputes), and Youth Justice Forum.She is also a trained peer facilitator with Empowering Indigenous Women (EIW) and a PHASE instructor with the Canadian Junior Rangers. Her current passion is in helping Indigenous people make connections to communities through genealogy.

Nina just recently signed a contract with Engen Books to publish three of her creative non-fiction novels documenting her family historical legacies within the Residential School System.

Hannah Jenkins, Youth Advocate

Hannah Jenkins is the poet behind The Birds Come Back in the Spring, and the current Writer in Residence at the Corner Brook Public Library. She holds a BA in English Literature from MUN, and is currently completing the Master of Applied Literary Arts program at Grenfell Campus. Hannah’s past volunteer work includes running the Grenfell Campus Literary Society, sitting on the editorial board of The Paper Mill Press, and being an active member of WritersNL’s Youth Committee. Hannah has had work featured in various anthologies and journals, and was selected for WritersNL’s Emerging Writers Mentorship Program in 2020. 

Ainsley Hawthorn, Past President

Ainsley Hawthorn, PhD, is a cultural historian, nonfiction author, and speaker originally from Steady Brook and now based in St. John’s. She blogs for Psychology Today, writes for a variety of publications, and edited the non-fiction anthology Land of Many Shores: Perspectives from a Diverse Newfoundland and Labrador. She also co-created Apocalypse Then, a CBC radio series that looked at past pandemics to shed light on the COVID experience. As past Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, Ainsley has a background in grant-making and endowment funds. She served as WritersNL Vice-President and Chair of the Literary Awards Committee for two years before becoming President in 2021.

Susan Flanagan, Past President

Susan has worked as a freelance journalist (BJ, King’s College, NS, 1991) in St. John’s, NL for more over 30 years. Her written works have appeared in Canadian Geographic, National Geographic (maps), Canadian Running, Queen’s Quarterly, Newfoundland Quarterly, The Hockey News, Noia News, Doctors’ Review, Atlantic Progress, Atlantic Business, Saltscapes, Labrador Life, SOAR and Mariner Magazine, among others.
Susan contributed a bi-weekly column, 48 Degrees, to The Newfoundland Herald (2002-04) and a weekly column, The Kids are Alright, to The Telegram (2011-15).
She also contributed 40+ stories to Memorial University’s Gazette in 2017 and wrote the last two Annual Research Reports for Memorial’s Faculty of Engineering.
She has been a Contributor on CBC Radio (St. John’s), The Point, Out Front, Radio Noon and Definitely Not The Opera (DNTO) and has worked for both NTV in St. John’s and CBC TV in Halifax and St. John’s as reporter, producer and researcher.