Kristina M.J. Powell

Executive Director Kristina M.J. Powell joins The Telling Room having dedicated her career to community building, Maine-based nonprofits. She graduated from Bowdoin College with her BA in Anthropology, and for seven years she worked in admissions & enrollment at the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), and then co-managed the study abroad advising department. At Bates College, she served as Associate Director developing and implementing new programs for underrepresented alumni, students, and their families. Kristina later managed the development team at The Center for Grieving Children, and in June 2021 received her MBA while serving as the Director of The Berwick Fund at Berwick Academy.

The Telling RoomApril 27, 2021Staff

Rylan Hynes

Communications & Editorial Director Rylan Hynes studied creative writing, visual art, and theatre at College of the Atlantic as an undergraduate. Rylan has worked with independent bookstores and nonprofits across the country, including Maine's own Nonesuch Books, Chicago’s celebrated Women & Children First, and poetry press Alice James Books. Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance (MWPA) has awarded Rylan with a 2020 Martin Dibner Fellowship, a 2022 Lit Fest Fellowship, and they are a member of MWPA’s Community Advisory Board. Rylan and their work were recently a finalist for the 2024 Maine Chapbook Series, Tin House’s 2024 Trans Writers Residency, and longlisted for The Masters Review's 2023 Novel Excerpt Contest. In 2024, Rylan will be a writer-in-residence at Monson Arts. When they aren't busy writing, Rylan enjoys spending time with their spouse, making art, and gardening.

The Telling RoomApril 25, 2021Staff

Amy Kimball

Amy Kimball thinks having fun is of the utmost importance. Being a Teaching Artist with The Telling Room is the perfect job because it’s fun and challenging every day–meeting writers where they are and working with them to develop their craft. What could be better? Amy is a poet and memoirist with a masters in education.

The Telling RoomApril 25, 2021Staff, SWARM

Hipai Pamba

Teaching Artist Marlin Hipai Pamba is a Telling Room alum of the Young Writers & Leaders program from 2016-17, as well as Publishing Workshop. She interned with AmeriCorps from 2018-20 here at The Telling Room. Her love of working with students and creative writing keeps her involved. She is currently pursuing a degree in education at Southern Maine Community College. Working out, podcasts, and traveling are high on the list of ways she enjoys spending her time.

Writers BlockThe Telling RoomApril 22, 2021Staff, Story Sleuths, YWL

Sarah Schneider

Development Director Sarah Schneider holds a B.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Maine at Farmington and has studied towards her M.F.A. at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She was the Grants & External Affairs Manager at Maine Family Planning for over nine years and then worked at the Maine Women’s Fund as their Development Coordinator before joining The Telling Room in December of 2014. She remains optimistic that she will someday finish writing a biography of her cousin Doris Cochran, who was an avid weaver and pioneering herpetologist at the Smithsonian. Sarah lives in Portland with her husband and their young daughter.

The Telling RoomApril 20, 2021Staff

Sonya Tomlinson

Young Writers & Leaders Program Lead Sonya Tomlinson has been teaching with The Telling Room since 2008. Sonya holds a B.F.A. in Design from UNC-Greensboro. Deeply involved in the arts both professionally and personally, she spent nearly a decade as traffic manager and contributing arts writer at The Portland Phoenix and on the events staff at Space Gallery - all the while moonlighting as performing and recording artist Sontiago on Montreal’s Endemik Music. Her heartstrings are tugged in the direction of teaching high school students self-expression through songwriting and poetry.

The Telling RoomApril 19, 2021Staff, YWL

Philip Tran

Philip Tran is an alum of The Telling Room in the Young Writers & Leaders program of 2017-2018 and returned as an intern in the summer of 2019. He has now joined The Telling Room as the current Finance and Operations coordinator. Philip earned his B.A in Sociology and a minor in Entrepreneurship at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Currently, he is pursuing his masters in Data Science at the Roux Institute at Northeastern University. In his free time he enjoys shooting photos, running, trying new restaurants in Portland, but overall prioritizes time with family and friends. He believes all experiences are important and to have an outlet for creative expression can be powerful to one’s self and to a greater audience.

The Telling RoomApril 18, 2021Staff

Nick Whiston

Program Director Nick Whiston is originally from Boston, attended Earlham College in Indiana, and came to The Telling Room after working in education for eight years in Oakland, California. As a classroom teacher and then nonprofit director, Nick worked diligently to create opportunities for young people, focusing on college access and preparation. Since joining The Telling Room in 2013, he has rediscovered an appreciation for creative writing and the importance of youth voices. When he is not working, Nick enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, playing tennis, and dominating in fantasy baseball.

Nick CourageApril 18, 2021Staff

Marjolaine Whittlesey

Education Manager Marjolaine Whittlesey grew up in France and came to Maine to go to College of the Atlantic where she focused on literature, ecology and performing arts. Her innate love of teaching quickly took over and for the past ten years she has taught creative writing, French, and theater to students of all ages. When she is not teaching, she works as an actor, director, and theater educator with several companies around Maine, and particularly enjoys juggling the verbal thrills of Shakespeare with the embodied storytelling of physical theater. She loves collaborating with passionate artists and educators who invite students to trust their voice.

The Telling RoomApril 17, 2021Staff, Second Story

Kathryn Williams

Teaching Artist Kathryn Williams is a young adult author, most recently of the novels Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff that Made Me Famous and The Storyteller (published in January 2022). Her nonfiction has appeared in numerous print and online publications, and she holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Sewanee School of Letters at the University of the South. Originally from Virginia, she's been in Maine since 2012 and teaching for The Telling Room since 2014. In the Young Emerging Authors program, she gets to help the next generation of poets and storytellers turn their words and their worlds into books.

Nick CourageMarch 16, 2021Staff, YEA