Our Faculty: Summer 2026
Fiction Workshop Leader
Stephen Markley
Stephen Markley is the author of The Deluge: A Novel, hailed by The New York Times Book Review as an Editor’s Choice. His previous books include the critically acclaimed bestseller Ohio: A Novel, as well as Publish This Book and Tales of Iceland. He has also written for the Hulu comedy Only Murders in the Building. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Non-Fiction Workshop Leader
Peter Godwin
Peter Godwin was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He is the author of six non-fiction books including Mukiwa, which received the George Orwell Prize and the Esquire-Apple-Waterstones award, and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, which won the Borders Original Voices Award. His book, The Fear, was selected by the New Yorker as a best book of the year.
He has taught writing at Wesleyan and Columbia, and served as President of the PENAmerican Center. He is an Orwell fellow and a Guggenheim fellow.
Mystery/Thriller Workshop Leader
Announcement Coming Soon
Late Bloomers Workshop Leader
Stephanie Gangi
Stephanie Gangi is an award-winning poet, novelist, short story writer and essayist living and writing in New York City. Her debut novel, The Next, was published by St. Martin’s Press and Carry the Dog was published by Algonquin Books. Gangi’s work has appeared in many publications including Catapult, LitHub, Hippocrates Poetry Anthology, McSweeney’s, New Ohio Review, Oldster, Next Tribe, The Woolfer, Arts & Letters, Craft Literary. Her third novel, The Good Provider is in progress.
Distinguished Guest Editors
Sarah Pekkanen
Sarah Pekkanen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fifteen solo and co-authored novels. Her books are sold in thirty-six countries, with several optioned for TV and film. Sarah also co-wrote the screenplay for The Wife Between Us for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. She serves on the board of directors of International Thriller Writers, and is the founder of the nonprofit IndiaStreetPaws.com, which rescues injured and abused street dogs in India. She lives just outside of Washington, DC.
Ben Ryder Howe
Ben Ryder Howe is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, New York magazine and Air Mail. He was a senior editor at The Paris Review, Town & Country, the New York Observer and Departures. His 2011 memoir, My Korean Deli, was a New York Times bestseller and an Amazon Best Book of the Year. He lives in Manhattan.
Distinguished Literary Agents
Amy Bishop-Wycisk
Amy Bishop-Wycisk (why-zick) is an agent with Trellis Literary Management. Over her decade of experience, she’s cultivated a wide-ranging list in upmarket and book club fiction, grounded sci-fi and fantasy, speculative fiction, expert-driven narrative nonfiction, and select YA, with a special interest in underrepresented voices. Her authorsbooks have been NYT, USA Today, and indie bestsellers, a Reese’s Book Club selection, James Beard Award and Edgar Award winners, Indie Next picks, and Book of the Month and B&N Monthly selections. You can find her on Instagram at @abw.books.
Lisa Erbach Vance
Lisa Erbach Vance joined the Aaron Priest Literary Agency in 1993 as Director of Foreign Rights for Aaron’s client list. Shortly thereafter, she began representing her own clients. Her list includes #1 bestselling, critically acclaimed, and award-winning suspense authors such as Alex Finlay, Harlan Coben, Gregg Hurwitz, David McCloskey, Gayle Lynds, B.J. Daniels, and Glen Erik Hamilton. Prior to joining the agency, Lisa was a Management Trainee at Random House, Inc. and a Foreign Rights Associate at Crown Publishers. Lisa was raised outside of Chicago; she has a degree in English Literature from Northwestern University.
Sharon Pelletier
Sharon Pelletier joined Dystel, Goderich & Bourret in 2013 after working in editorial at small presses and as a B&N bookseller, was named senior agent in 2021, and named vice president in 2024. Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, Sharon has lived in New York since 2009, but often returns to visit the Midwest and dreams of living by the ocean one day. Sharon’s list includes New York Times bestsellers, Reese’s Book Club and Read With Jenna picks, NYT Notable Book of the Year authors, and many Indie Next List titles, representing authors including Regina Black, Layne Fargo, Charlotte McConaghy, Heather Aimee O’Neill and many more talented novelists. She’s always seeking upmarket fiction of all sorts, from smart, complex women’s fiction; to unexpected suspense fiction and romance; to hearty, unforgettable book club fiction. She also occasionally takes on compelling, fierce narrative nonfiction by journalists, experts, or emerging voices with a promising platform. Visit her profile on MSWL for more wishlist detail.
Staff
Thomas Cooney
Conference Founder & Director
Thomas Cooney is a graduate of UCLA with a degree in Art History, and NYU with an MA in Modernism. From 1997 – 2012 he anchored the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Saint Mary’s College of California where he served as Acting Director, Director, and Coordinator. His short prose has been anthologized in The Answer, My Friend and Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit, and his travel essays have appeared in the San Francisco ChronicleSunday Magazine (Liberation, Paradise Lost, Bollywood Dreams). His music criticism has been widely published. A Graham Greene scholar, he has also served on several advisory boards, and from 2006 – 2008 was appointed for three consecutive years to serve on the recommendation committee for the awarding of International Fulbright Awards in the field of Creative Writing.
Alex Finlay
Associate Director
Alex Finlay is the bestselling author of several acclaimed novels, including the 2025 instant national bestseller, Parents Weekend. His work regularly appears on best-of-the-year lists and has been translated into twenty-six languages and sold around the world. Alex’s books have been optioned or in development for film and television, including Parents Weekend, which was recently acquired for adaptation to the screen. Alex is a board member of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Dianna Cannizzo
Assistant Director
Dianna Marie Cannizzo writes memoir, flash non-fiction and essays. A bilingual public speaker, Dianna has twenty years of experience working with disabled people, and has a background in clinical psychology. Her work is informed by her presentations on intergenerational war trauma. Her writings have appeared in Consequence Forum, War Literature and the Arts and the University of Udine’s Le Simplegadi. An excerpt from her memoir The Red Purses was a San Francisco Writer’s Conference finalist. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley and an MA in Clinical Psychology, JFK University. She has lived Italy for the last twenty years.
Tracy Franze
Participant Coordinator & Excursions
Tracy Franze spent her career as an educator, including teaching reading to children. An avid reader herself, she will serve as the initial liaison and resource for participant questions and concerns, as well as coordinate the conference’s excursions.
