EXECUTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
JUDIE
HOLCOMB-PACK
INTERIM PRESIDENT
KEN URBANSKY
VICE PRESIDENT
Judie Holcomb-Pack is a recent past president of Winston-Salem Writers and has been a member for over seven years. She currently coordinates the Writers Around Town monthly get-together and is a member of the scriptwriters group. She writes poetry, short stories, essays, and short plays. She is the associate editor of The Chronicle, where she writes about older adults for the For Seniors Only monthly section.
Ken Urbansky spent 45 years in Christian ministry as a pastor and worship leader. He co-wrote books one and two of the Songstone Trilogy with his long-time friend Bob Mertes. After retiring in 2018, Ken and his wife moved to North Carolina. Although Bob passed away in 2020 from Covid-19, Ken has returned to work on Eden Quest: Doorway to Destiny, book three of the Songstone Trilogy. His book The Timeless Apostle will soon be published by Relevant Publishers LLC.
MAE LIPSCOMB
RODNEY
SECRETARY
DAVID WINSHIP
TREASURER
Mae Lipscomb Rodney has degrees in library science from North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She worked in state-funded academic libraries in multiple positions for over forty years. During her professional years, Mae served on national, state and local committees, including the Salem Academy and College Board of Trustees. In 2015 the UNC School of Information and Library Science celebrated her extended career by naming her the Distinguished Alumna of the Year. Rodney’s life-time dream – writing – resulted in her writing several short plays and seeing them transformed into live productions. The plays included “Zelda is Dead,” “Black Diamonds,” and “India’s Story.” In addition, she compiled multiple biographies. The most comprehensive was the biography of her late husband, Cedric S. Rodney, which was compiled to commemorate his retirement from active ministry. She also completed Beyond the Business Man, a biography celebrating her brother’s 80th birthday. Her new interest is writing murder mysteries. Presently, she is a member of Winston-Salem’s Black Philanthropy Initiative, Women’s Fund board of directors, Winston-Salem Foundation’s Racial Equity Advocates. Mae has served as a director on the board of Winston-Salem Writers and currently serves as secretary.
David lives in Bristol, Tennessee, and is a retired public school educator. He has written poetry for over two decades and self-publishes an annual poetry chapbook. He recently had an essay published in the Personal Story Publishing Project, and his play “Connection at the Coffee Shop,” co-written with Judie Holcomb-Pack, was produced by the Winston-Salem Writers’ 10-Minute Play Festival in 2023. He has written several pieces for The Winston-Salem Chronicle. He is also a member of Appalachian Community of Poets and Writers and has a weekly radio show on WEHC-FM on the campus of Emory and Henry College.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DONNA EMMARY
DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE
During her career in communications, Donna was sent on assignments to experience white water rafting, gliding, riverboat cruising, and a tour of Europe. During her time in public relations, she handled publicity for an auto club, a Girl Scout council, a construction company, and a cemetery. During her current period of editing/proofreading, she has reviewed magazine articles, graduate school essays, training manuals, and psychological reports. Her professional life has certainly been eclectic. Woven in and out of all her work experiences, Donna coined her own last name from those of her grandmothers Emma and Mary, took a stand-up comedy class which included a 5-minute “final exam” at a comedy club, learned how to tat lace, and traveled alone to visit online friends in Vietnam. Donna enjoys writing creative non-fiction short-short stories and is slowly building an autobiographical collection. She recently completed a series of eight educational books for pre-readers which are now being illustrated and she’s currently working on a long short story, her first work of fiction.
REBECCA HOLDER
EVENTS COORDINATOR
Rebecca has worked at newspapers, an advertising agency, a management consulting firm, a state university, and more—writing everything from press releases to speeches to training materials to billboard copy. After moving to Winston-Salem in the early 1990s, she produced The Senior Scene, a newspaper for older adults, which won a national Mature Media Silver award for community tabloid. A licensed general contractor and a licensed nursing home administrator, she became a self-employed long-term care consultant specializing in aging-in-place. Rebecca won First Place for Memoir/Life Experience in the 2023 Senior Games/SilverArts and was a finalist for the 2022 James Hurst Prize for Fiction. Her fiction story “Polite Society” was published in the 2023 issue of Flying South.
JANICE JENNINGS
PROGRAMS COMMITTEE CHAIR
Janice Jennings is a writer and the editorial assistant for the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. A North Carolina native, she’s also called other places home: Ohio, Florida, Peru, and California. After many years in technology and academic fields, and keeping a busy family on track, she retired to finally put her own words on paper. The Sound of Moving Water is the working title of her first novel. Janice lives in Winston-Salem, with her husband Peter and two high maintenance cats.
DAVID JOHNSON
DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE
David Mark Johnson is a writer from North Carolina. David has worked in the food industry, education, outdoor recreation, and social work, yet his passion and joy is creative writing. In 2017, he earned a B.A. in Psychology from The University of North Carolina at Asheville then moved back to Winston-Salem to be closer to his parents and sister. His creative interests are haiku, free-verse poetry, fantasy fiction, and creative nonfiction. Lamplit evenings with a book or video game help him unwind. Find out more at David’s website: www.davidmarkjohnson.com
Although a recent transplant to North Carolina, Matthew C. McLean has been writing and editing for 20 years, in various forms ranging from comic books to novels. His most recent novel One Sore Rib was released in 2017. Matthew has a passion for literacy and has sought to become actively involved in Bookmarks and Forsyth County child development and education. Whenever he can attend he enjoys the monthly Winston-Salem Writers' Open Mic nights, encouraging anyone who has the courage to create and share with others.
MATTHEW McLEAN
BOOKMARKS COORDINATOR
ANNA PATTERSON
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR
Anna Patterson has always lived near the heart of Winston-Salem. An AuDHD writer, she is probably best known for her memoir poetry, which she has read at WSW Open Mics and Poetry on the Patio, but she is currently focused on writing her debut novel — the publication of which has been a long-held dream. When not writing, she enjoys reading fantasy and period dramas, playing video games, and watching xiānxiá. She holds an Associate in Applied Science from Forsyth Technical Community College.
HOWARD PEARRE
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
After a career as a counselor and manager with N.C. Vocational Rehabilitation and the Veterans Administration, Howard settled down to give serious attention to tomato growing, fig wine making, and story writing. His fiction and memoir pieces have appeared in Daniel Boone Footsteps anthologies, Flying South, and Greenprints magazine, and a story is scheduled for the January 2022, online edition of The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He received an honorable mention for a short story at the 2020 International Human Rights Arts Festival and has written articles for the Winston-Salem Chronicle to encourage voting. He lives in Winston-Salem with his wife Kathy and tries to keep up with six far-flung grandchildren.
PROGRAM COORDINATORS
SHANNON GOLDEN
CRITIQUE GROUP COORDINATOR
Shannon Golden joined Winston-Salem Writers in 2020. She is a researcher who worked in academia for 25 years before becoming a research consultant with her own business, Goldsmith Research Group. She is an experienced scientific writer with co-authorship on over 55 published research articles and serves as a peer reviewer for several academic journals. She is a member of REACH Women’s Network. In the past few years, she has shifted her writing focus to more creative modes of expression: fiction and short stories. She enjoys reading nonfiction, playing board/card games, and other nerdy pursuits.
JULIE KOLISCHAK
WEBMASTER
Julie’s entire professional career has been in the Communications field. She has over thirty years experience in producing written and visual content for Fortune 500 companies, commercial and nonprofit organizations. Her training in graphic design, coupled with her experience in video production, copywriting and project management, uniquely positions her to organize content into a viewable, engaging user experience. Her writing interests include Poetry and Creative Nonfiction.
VERONICA KAVASS
MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR
Veronica Kavass recently moved to North Carolina from New Orleans. She teaches at UNCSA and primarily writes nonfiction.
STEVE LINDAHL
FLYING SOUTH LITERARY JOURNAL COORDINATOR
Chasing Margie is Steve Lindahl's sixth novel. His first three, Motherless Soul , White Horse Regressions, and Hopatcong Vision Quest (a CIPA 2017 Evvy award winner) are historical fiction stories wrapped in modern mysteries. In these books the characters must look into their past life memories to find clues concerning crimes in the present. His fourth and fifth books, Under a Warped Cross and Living in a Star’s Light, are also historical novels, but without the regression twist. Under a Warped Cross is set in the tenth century, in Scandinavia, Ireland, and Britannia. Living in a Star’s Light follows the life of Lotta Crabtree, a nineteenth century actress who achieved great fame and wealth. Steve’s short fiction has appeared in Space and Time, The Alaska Quarterly, The Wisconsin Review, Eclipse, Ellipsis and Red Wheelbarrow. Steve is married to Toni Lindahl, a pastel artist. They currently reside in North Carolina, but still spend time each summer at Lake Hopatcong, NJ. They have two adult children, Nicole and Erik, and one grandchild, Ava.
DAVID RATCLIFFE
TEN-MINUTE PLAY COORDINATOR
David Ratcliffe is a native of Waynesville, N.C. and has lived in the Triad since 1994. He is a financial advisor with Principal Financial Group in Winston-Salem and lives in Lewisville with his wife, Cherie, and son, Corbin. David is a past member of the Greensboro Playwrights’ Forum and had five short plays produced in their Evenings of Short Plays. Since 2002, he has written, directed and acted in contemporary holiday dramas and skits at Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church. Most recently, he was the winner of the 2017 Cary Playwrights’ Forum Play Slam. He is past board member of Authoring Action and The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem.
ED ROBSON
OPEN MIC COORDINATOR
KAT BODRIE
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Kat Bodrie is a writer and editor based in Winston-Salem, NC. Her articles have appeared in Winston-Salem Monthly, Triad City Beat, 1808: Greensboro’s Monthly, and Forsyth magazines. Her poetry has appeared in Poetry South, West Texas Literary Review, Rat's Ass Review, and elsewhere. She is a volunteer editor for the second edition of Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row. She enjoys reading Stephen Dobyns and Kazuo Ishiguro and working on the house she shares with her husband, Ryan, and feline-friend, Rita. Read her work at katbodrie.com.