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Writing Consultants
Chong J. Bretillon holds a PhD in French from the CUNY Graduate Center, where she also earned a Film Studies Certificate. She has taught courses in contemporary French cinema, cultural studies of the Francophone world, and French language at Pennsylvania State University-Erie, Hunter College, and Borough of Manhattan Community College. She is currently an adjunct in the English department at Fordham. Her areas of consulting expertise include developing thesis statements, close reading, response/reaction writing, and peer review. Chong especially enjoys working with multilingual and international students, and has tutored students in both French and English in the United States and in France.
Victoria Cho is a writer and educator who has supported middle, high school, and college students. She previously worked in social services, managing a career and college-readiness program for first-generation high school students in Brooklyn. Victoria aims to help students explore, question, and identify research strategies during their writing process. She holds a Bachelor’s from Boston University and an MFA in Creative Writing from University of New Orleans.
Itzél Delgado-Gonzalez is a PhD candidate in the American Studies program at NYU and holds a BA in Comparative Literature from Haverford College. She loves the writing process and is especially passionate about supporting other multilingual and first-generation college students of color. Her areas of consulting expertise include literary analysis, thesis development, essay structure, and outlining. Besides writing, she enjoys watching psychological thrillers and indie films.
Sasha Graybosch is a fiction and creative nonfiction writer and educator. Since 2008, she’s been teaching and/or working one-on-one with writers at various NYC colleges, including the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York University, Baruch, the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from NYU and a BA in English from the University of Kansas. You can find her writing in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Electric Literature, the Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, and elsewhere. She enjoys supporting students in understanding assignment expectations, developing new reading strategies, and breaking complex tasks into manageable pieces.
Anu Jindal is a fiction writer and educator. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a BA in English and Film Theory from Dalhousie University. In addition to his work at Baruch, he currently teaches Creative Writing at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and has taught at The School of the New York Times and Gotham Writer’s Workshop, and formerly served as a contributing editor at Electric Literature. His writing appears in Electric Literature, Joyland, The New Quarterly, Matrix, and elsewhere.
Sukie Kim is a PhD student at the CUNY Graduate Center’s English program, where she researches alternative, queer, and more just world-making practices in speculative fiction. Both her research and teaching is informed by Black feminist studies, women of color feminism, and queer-of-color critique. She is a bilingual Korean American who grew up in South Korea and holds a BA in English from Yonsei University (South Korea), and an MA in English Literature from Tufts University. She is open to working with writers at any stage, be it brainstorming, argumentation, organization, research, or more. In her free time she writes poetry and creative nonfiction, and practices yoga.
Dean Kritikos is a writer and educator. He received his MA in English from St. John’s and has taught composition there. He’s also worked in writing support roles there and at Queensborough Community College, Columbia School of Social Work, and the College of New Rochelle. His critical writing appears in The Quint, Talisman, War Literature and the Arts, Lehigh Valley Vanguard, and the collection Oceanic New York; his creative work is in ATOMIC, NYSAI, Walk Write Up, and anthologies from Great Weather for MEDIA and Crack the Spine.
Joss is a fiction writer and educator. He received his MFA in fiction from Columbia University and his B.A. in English Literature from Wesleyan University. He has taught writing across the city at programs and institutions including Columbia University, Catapult, 826 NYC, Behind the Book, and the School of the New York Times. His first novel, Future Feeling, was published by Soft Skull Press. He is particularly interested in working with students on literary analysis, building confidence in writing, personal narratives, research papers, and the brainstorming process.
Zefyr Lisowski is a poet, interdisciplinary artist, and educator from North Carolina. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Hunter College and has been the recipient of fellowships from Tin House Writers Workshop, the Center for the Humanities’ Adjunct Incubator Grant, and more. Zefyr’s the author of the short poetry collection Blood Box (Black Lawrence Press, 2019) and is a poetry co-editor at Apogee Journal. She’s especially excited about trans and queer competency in higher education; de-colonial and anti-oppressive practices; writing across disciplines; and issues of accessibility in writing center spaces, among other topics.
Tenn Joe Lim is a PhD student at the CUNY Graduate Center’s Geography program, where he researches ocean geographies and land reclamation in Southeast Asia. He has taught courses in urban studies at Hunter College and enjoys helping students through the research and writing process. He is from Malaysia and holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.
K-Yu Liu is a writer and educator from Beijing. She holds a dual-certificate MFA in Fiction Writing and Literary Translation from Columbia University, where she also taught creative writing, and a BA in English Literature from Smith College. Her fiction has appeared in Gulf Coast, The Common, Four Way Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, and elsewhere. She particularly enjoys helping students with literary analysis and with finding their voices when stuck.
Holly Melgard is a poet, book designer, editor and holds a PhD in English from SUNY Buffalo. She has taught Introduction to Writing Composition, Introduction to Research Writing, Literature, and Creative Writing at the college level for over a decade. Her research interests include contemporary poetry, poetics, philosophy, computation and digital textuality. When consulting with students, she especially enjoys working on problems in research writing, integrating sources, brainstorming ideas, thesis development, reframing with topic and transition sentences, as well as spicing up introductions and conclusions.
Jono Mischkot has happily worked as a Writing Consultant for Baruch’s Writing Center for 15+ years. He enjoys helping students with literary analysis, composing personal statements, and writing in the disciplines. Jono is also a Clinical Professor at New York University where he teaches writing and directs the Writing in the Disciplines program. In his spare time, he writes short stories.
Nathaniel Rosenthalis is a singer, actor, and poet. He has performed Off-Broadway and in various venues in NYC, such as 54 Below and Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. He is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, most recently The Leniad and Works and Days (Broken Sleep Books, 2023 and 2024), recently reviewed in the Los Angeles Review of Books. He teaches poetry and research writing at NYU, and has also taught at Washington University in St. Louis and Columbia University.
Monroe Street Schostal is a psychoanalyst who has been reading, writing, and learning about the English language, among others, for what seems like quite awhile. At CUNY over the last decade, Street Schostal has collaborated on writing with students ranging from those in pre-college literacy courses to graduate students preparing thesis projects to artists and poets who’ve sought a broader language for discussing their work. Street Schostal lives and works in Brooklyn, where he tends a small clinic for individuals and families interested in psychoanalysis.
Carin Jean White is a theatre director and visual artist. Her work explores the intersections and porous boundaries between the roles of spectator and performer, while emphasizing how space can act both as an intermediary and active participant. Recently, she collaborated with Spanish artists Itsaso Iribarren and Germán de la Riva on a site-specific, physically-distanced theatre piece, The Art of Walking, for Artpark in Western New York. She has worked with Performance Workshop (Taiwan), California Shakespeare Theatre Company, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Artpark and Sundance Theatre Lab amongst others. Carin’s large scale paintings and installations have been shown throughout NY and the Bay Area. She is co-artistic director of Excellent Creature Theatre Company (Garrison, NY) and founding director of Kingston STEP, a free theatre-training program for teens. She holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from Columbia University.
Melinda Wilson is the author of a collection of poems called What It Was Like to Be a Woman, forthcoming from Indolent Books and I, the Author, According to: Three Moves for Composition, from Kendall Hunt Publishing. She has taught at St. John’s University, Florida State University, and Manhattan College among several other institutions. She earned her PhD from Florida State University in 2015. Melinda lives in the Bronx.
Lukas Vrbka is a PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and also holds a master’s degree in social work. His ethnographic research focuses on the relationship between governance, property, and ethics in U.S. cities. He has worked with writers as both an instructor and one-on-one in writing centers at CUNY and elsewhere. Lukas enjoys working with students at any phase of the writing process, and is especially interested in supporting writers when they feel “stuck” in complex projects.
Joey Yearous-Algozin holds a Ph.D. in English from the University at Buffalo. He has 12 years of experience teaching Composition, Creative Writing and Literature for multiple institutions. He is currently an adjunct professor in the Liberal Studies program at New York University and a member of the Language and Thinking faculty at Bard. Additionally he is a the author of multiple books of poetry, including A Feeling Called Heaven (Nightboat, 2021). He is a founding editor of the publishing collective, TROLL THREAD.
Front desk team
Ali Darwish is currently a senior at Baruch College majoring in Information Systems and Cybersecurity. On campus, he is the President of Baruch’s ISACA Cybersecurity Chapter where he hosts Business Development, Networking, and Workshops with industry professionals and organizations. He is also on the e-board of Baruch’s Model United Nations Club which was awarded outstanding delegation in the NYC model UN nationals. In his downtime, Ali is a part of the Good E.A.T.S. Club where enjoys hosting food events and practicing his guitar skills.
Rose Macias Villamar is currently a junior at Baruch College majoring in Political Science with a minor in Psychology. She is Ecuadorian-American and enjoys learning about our government system, laws, and policies. In her spare time, she loves watching sitcoms and reality TV shows, playing The Sims, and reading.
Michelle Martinez is currently a senior at Baruch College majoring in Communication in Corporate Business and minoring in Spanish. She is Mexican-American and yes, her favorite food is Mexican food. Michelle enjoys going to museums, camping, and basically exploring everything.
Isabella Schlachet is currently a senior at Baruch College majoring in Public Affairs and double-minoring in Law and Policy and American Studies. She serves as Communications Director for Baruch YDSA and is passionate about ensuring equity and individualized assistance for her fellow New Yorkers. Isabella enjoys makeup art, listening to Beyoncé, and spending time with her dog.
Huda Tombul is currently a junior at Baruch College majoring in Political Science with a minor in English. On campus she holds the position of President for She’s the First, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women and girls around the globe receive an education. She is also a senior staff writer for The Ticker. In her free time she can be found reading, going on bike rides, or hanging out with friends.
Administrative
Rainer Diana Hamilton, Director, received their Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Cornell University, where they taught First-Year Writing and served as an Assistant Director of the Writing Walk-in Service. Their research focused on style and subjectivity in “experimental” writing. They have published three books of poetry, and their critical and creative writing appears in Art in America, frieze, Triangle House, Amodern, and BOMB, among others.
Rachel Rys, Associate Director, received her Ph.D. in Feminist Studies from UC Santa Barbara with an interdisciplinary emphasis in Writing Studies and a Certificate in College and University Teaching. Her doctoral research focuses on visual and multimodal communication, particularly how the comics medium can be used to share academic feminist theory and pedagogy with diverse audiences both within and beyond the university. She has worked in a range of teaching and instructional development positions across high school, community college, and 4-year university contexts.
Hannah Brenner-Leonard, Administrative Coordinator, received her MS in Education and BFA in Art and Design Education from Pratt Institute. Over the past decade she has worked in various capacities throughout the arts education field, as both a teaching artist and administrator, developing an interest in creating opportunities for student-centered growth. Throughout her career in the arts education field she has maintained a robust art practice, which encompasses drawings, paintings and mixed media pieces exploring concepts of home and place. In her spare time she enjoys drawing, sewing and exploring museums.
Writing by the center’s staff
