Read, write, and speak about what matters

Dave joined Walker’s in 2018 from Florida State University where he was completing his Ph.D. in Creative Writing and teaching English. He has enjoyed teaching for the past 11 years at the university level but was thrilled to join Walker’s where he spends more time focused on teaching and getting to know his students. A published poet, Dave earned a B.S. in English, summa cum laude, from Weber State University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from The University of Idaho. Dave is passionate about community partnerships and is the director of Walker’s Community Partnerships program.

Erin holds a Master of Arts in English Literature and Bachelor of Arts in English, Creative Writing and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Hofstra University. She has worked extensively with students on composition and literature, and she has assisted students with honing their skills to write at the college level. Erin is the Director of the Writing Center and a Middle School advisor.

Olivia Piper is an English teacher, a writer, and a New Englander. She grew up in the Farmington Valley, and is very excited to be coming home after two years spent in Virginia earning an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University. Olivia also holds a master’s degree in English & Language Arts Education from Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in both English and Journalism from The University of Connecticut. Previously, Olivia spent three years working as an English Literature Instructor with Hartford Youth Scholars, and has worked as a writing instructor in the academic summer programs at both The Loomis Chaffee School and The Kingswood Oxford School. Additionally, she worked as a Public Ally through Americorps, serving the state of Connecticut as the Academic Coordinator of the Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Program.

As a journalist, Olivia worked as a staff writer for both The Valley Press and The Valley Life Magazine covering the Farmington Valley, and as a News Production Intern with WNPR. As a writer, her work, which is anchored firmly in a deep reverence for girlhood, has previously been published in The Connecticut River Review, Funicular Magazine, Black Fox Literary Magazine, Devastation Baby, and Sky Island Journal, among others. In 2024, she was a finalist for The Jack McCarthy Book Prize through Write Bloody Publishing. Olivia also has a background in the theater, having directed Little Women, Brownstone, and Almost, Maine during her time at UConn. In addition, she worked with The Avon Old Farms School as a co-director during their 2017-2018 theater season.

Nicole Sellew grew up in Connecticut. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2021, where she studied English, creative writing, and film and media studies. She received her M.Litt. in creative writing from the University of St Andrews in 2022 and is now studying for her Ph.D. She teaches English and theater, and she is both a novelist and a playwright. Her debut novel will be published by Clash Books in 2025, and her writing for the stage has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, among other places.