Writers and Staff 2021 (Tentative)
Malia Collins grew up in Hawaii and left home for the wilds of Wisconsin where she received her degree in creative writing and journalism from Beloit College. She spent a few years traveling and living abroad until going back home to Kailua, Oahu, to get her Master’s in Literature at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. After finishing her degree, she moved to Grenoble, France, on a Rotary ambassadorial scholarship to study French Literature at L’Universite Stendhal. It was there that she fell in love with snow and skiing. Shortly after returning to the States, she made a three-day stop in Boise to say hello to her grandparents. That was in 1999, and she’s been here ever since. Malia is the current Idaho Writer in Residence and an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the College of Western Idaho. Malia has published short stories in a number of literary magazines, has two Hawaiian children’s books, and is currently working on a memoir about Hawaii as well as a novel. She loves to swim in the ocean, walk Kailua Beach, and hike up Table Rock, particularly at sunrise. She lives in Boise with her husband and two children.
Nicole LeFavour, has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Montana and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California Berkeley in the evolution of cognition. She lives in Boise and teaches creative writing at The Cabin, and has represented the state in the National Slam Poetry competition. A life-long human rights advocate, she served in the Idaho Legislature for eight years. In 2012, Nicole finished a novel about a dragon and is presently working on a memoir. She writes essays, journalism, creative non-fiction, poems and slam poetry. "As a young person, I lived on an Idaho ranch at the edge of the Frank Church wilderness. Nothing inspires me to write more than being in the wild. It is not only what is around me, the beauty, or the intricate lives of the plants and animals, but what of myself I find there."
Dwayne Blackaller has worked as a professional actor, teacher, director and play deviser since 1995. He is the co-creator of the devised pieces The Physics of Regret, Destinopolis, and The Acheri, and the author of the plays re/fraction, The Science of Fiction, Air Heart, andOrofino. He is the co-writer of The Uncanny Valley, Narwhal! Unicorn Of The Sea, A Nighttime Survival Guide, and Rabbit/Moon, with Matthew Cameron Clark, and Maggie Lumiere and The Ghost Train, with Tracy Sunderland. He has a passion for teaching young performers and has worked as an acting teacher for The Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Eagle Performing Arts Center, College of Idaho, and the Ohio State University. He was also a puppeteer, sword fighter, and stilt-walker in Las Vegas. Dwayne has trained with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company in New York, and specializes in teaching Viewpoints and Suzuki training for actors. He is now the Associate Artistic Director at Boise Contemporary Theater where he created BCT Theater Lab, a program for youth to find their voices and create new plays. Dwayne earned his MFA in acting at the Ohio State University with a focus on movement and devising new work.
Kate Baray is a full-time indie genre fiction author from Texas, where she earned degrees in German, business, and law. She’s published over 40 books as well as a number of novellas and short stories. She writes under three pen names in multiple genres, drawing from her experience as an attorney, dog trainer, and search and rescue dog handler. Her series, including Lost Library, Vegan Vamp Mysteries, and Fairmont Finds Canine Cozy Mysteries, can be found on all major ebook retailers.
