2019 Recap

Scott Ehrig-Burgess has been with the Library Shop since its inception in September of 2013 and has been instrumental in making it the best Non-Profit Book & Gift-Shop-Inside-a-Public-Library in the city of San Diego.  Before his current reign of terror as manager began in April 2016 he served as Operations Manager for the Library Shop and for many years before that was an independent bookseller at Warwick’s in La Jolla, Esmeralda Books in Del Mar (RIP) and several used bookstores now defunct.  His career in retail began tragically, when he decided to get a degree in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona.  He also currently does community & library outreach for the San Diego Public Library Foundation, which happens to own the Library Shop.

Mahshid Fashandi Hager is a therapist turned writer. In her work as a therapist she offers treatment and support to survivors of trauma. She first began writing as a way to process her own traumatic history of immigration but, soon discovered the power of sharing her stories with others. With her writing, Mahshid aspires to dismantle the culture of fear and intolerance through storytelling and compassionate connections.

Her upcoming memoir, No Way Back, Mahshid takes us on a journey back through her childhood as she recalls her family’s trials and tribulations during the Iranian revolution, the war with Iraq and her family’s subsequent, inevitable escape from their home. Mahshid’s story serves as a resource for anyone who aims to understand the plight of refugees and immigrant families in our world today.

Tiffany Vakilian is the quintessential Renaissance Gal. She is President of the San Diego Book Awards, an author, editor, and performer. With a Masters in Transformative Language Arts and TLA Certification, she is not only a voracious reader and exceptional performer but a professional writer and editor. Tiffany earned her MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College and continues her quest to use her word-art as a facilitator of social commentary and change through community involvement in her hometown area of San Diego. In her first book of poetry, Ugly Drawers, Pretty Panties, published by A Word With You Press, she shares verbal vignettes of dreams, experiences, perspectives, and people. She’s been a part of the San Diego Book Awards since 2015 and is honored to lead this local organization of scribes and readers. Tiffany is also a San Diego Kingdom Writers Association Vision Lead, a member of ASCAP, The National Forensics League, and a writer and editor for the Transformative Language Arts Network magazine, Chrysalis.

Dean Nelson is the founder and director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He writes occasionally for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Christianity Today, Sojourners, and several other national publications. He has won several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his reporting, and has written or co-written 14 books. Nelson is a frequent speaker at writing workshops and retreats.

Keithan Jones is the founder and owner of KID comics, a comic book and multi-media publisher based in San Diego, California. The mantra and philosphy behind KID is, “The Kid In You Never Dies”, as a constant reminder that our childhood spirit is the core of who we really are no matter how old we get.

Jones was introduced to comics in the late 1970’s by way of his late step-father, who as a young Navy officer would read them as a way to bide time on long deployments overseas. “My Dad would come home after 3 months of duty overseas and pass off all the comics he had collected over that time period to me. Where I became a collector, he saw them as a disposable entertainment. Up to the time that he died, I don’t think he realized that he was the impetus to what launched me into comic fandom and ultimately my career.”

From his first exposure to comics in the 1970’s leading up to current times, the sight of a black character in a comicbook still strikes as a novelty. Jones wanted to change this accepted normality and start injecting new characters in comics culture that were not just black or ethnic, but also the hero of the stories without an asterisk. “I wanted to see actual characters of color that occupied lead roles that were not temporary or taking place in an alternate universe. I wanted to see characters of color that were not replacing well established white characters as a way to fill a social qouta, but are 100% original concepts.” Thus the creation of his company, KID comics and his first publication, The Power Knights.

“The Power Knights doesn’t have any particular social agenda but rather a story that I hope inspires the reader to understand their own personal power to change their lives for the better. It’s basically what I intended it to be from the time I created it, at 11 years old; a fun action-packed sci-fi adventure. The ethnicity of the protagonists is a personal touch, so that I can write from an informed and truthful viewpoint.”

Jones hopes that his brand of escapism is embraced by all cultures in the same manner as a Star Wars film. “That would be amazing!”

The Power Knights can be purchased at kid-comics.com

Kristen Fogle is the Executive Director of San Diego Writers, Ink. She is a freelance editor, writer, instructor, tutor, teaching artist, and theatrical performer/director. She earned a BA in Communication Studies from California State University, Northridge and a MA in Rhetoric and Writing Studies (teaching emphasis) from San Diego State University. She has a Teaching Artist training certification from Young Audiences San Diego and a certificate in Non-Profit Management from Brandman University. She was recently recognized as a Woman Who Impacts San Diego by San Diego Metro Magazine and a Woman of the Year nominee by San Diego Magazine. She loves guiding people toward “creative recovery” in both longer and shorter term Artist’s Way groups.

Justin Hudnall received his BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He currently serves as the Executive Director of So Say We All, a San Diego-based literary arts and education non-profit, produces and hosts the public radio series, Incoming. In a prior career, he served with the United Nations in South Sudan as an emergency response officer. He is a recipient of the San Diego Foundation’s Creative Catalyst Fellowship and Rising Arts Leader award, named one of San Diego Citybeat’s “Best People” of 2016, and is an alumni of the Vermont Studio Center.

Gill Sotu is a multi-faceted artist weaving poetry, music, soul, humor, and thought provoking passion into captivating and memorable performances. He is a two time Grand Slam Poetry Champion, two time Raw Performing artist of the year, and a three time TEDx San Diego presenter. He has opened for rap legend Talib Kweli at the San Diego Symphony. Currently he is a teaching artist and a commissioned playwright with The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego as well as the Artist In Residence at Makers Church. He has been commissioned to produce original pieces for leading arts and community organizations such as: The San Diego Symphony, San Diego Fashion Week, The Unity Way of San Diego County, Feeding America, SD Fringe Fest, and the San Diego Museum of Man to name a few. A magnetic performer, Sotu uses his words and energy to bring stories to life on stage and screen and leaves audiences of all sizes entertained and inspired.

Jennifer Coburn is a USA Today bestselling author of six novels and a mother-daughter travel memoir We’ll Always Have Paris. Her short stories and essays have been published in five literary anthologies and her news features and opinion pieces have run in numerous newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Post, Newsday, the Miami Herald, and Mothering. Jennifer is a volunteer with the local literary organization So Say We All where she performs stories and coaches writers. An empty nester and recovering Tiger Mom, Jennifer also enjoys volunteers with inner-city youth helping prepare college admissions essays and personal statements.

A native New Yorker and graduate of the University of Michigan, Jennifer has lived in San Diego for 30 years  and loves everything about it (except the bagels).