BK

Learn more about Writopia in Brooklyn.

Bianca Turetsky

Brooklyn Regional Manager
Instructor

Bianca is thrilled to be working with Writopia Lab as the Brooklyn Regional Manager. She is the author of The Time-Traveling Fashionsta, a historical fiction series published by Little, Brown and Company. The books have been translated into nine languages. After graduating from Tufts University, Bianca began working for artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel. She managed his studio for over 11 years and was his assistant on the Academy Award-nominated film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. She is currently at work on a new chapter book series, Magic On the Map, with fellow Writopia Lab instructor Courtney Sheinmel, to be published by Random House Kids in Spring 2019. In 2018, she was recognized by the Scholastic Awards as an "outstanding educator whose dedication, commitment, and guidance are represented by student work selected for national honors."
Sophia Marie Lee

Instructor

Sophia is thrilled to be joining Writopia Lab, Westchester as a Writing Instructor. Sophia is an author of books for children and young adults. Her first book, What Things Mean, is a young adult novel published by Scholastic Asia (2016). This work won the Grand Prize at the 2014 Scholastic Asian Book Awards, and is one of the first young adult stories about the Philippines to have been published by Scholastic. What Things Mean was included in the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Top 10 Books of 2016. Her second book, a children's picture book titled Soaring Saturdays, won 2nd Prize at the Samsung KidsTime Authors' Awards (2015). It was digitized into an interactive e-book app in 2016 and is set for print release by Scholastic Asia in 2018. Sophia wanted to be many things growing up: doctor, teacher, ballerina, ninja, crime-fighting international spy, wizard, time traveler, journalist, and lawyer. She likes to think she can be all these things through writing. She studied creative writing at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and is currently a Creative Writing MFA Candidate with a concentration in Writing for Children and Young Adults at The New School in New York City. You can find her online at www.sophianlee.com.
Alexandra Cohl

Instructor

Alexandra Cohl is a creative and essay writing instructor at Writopia Lab NYC. After graduating from the University of Delaware with a BA in English Literature and a minor in Theatre Performance, she moved to New York City to pursue writing and teaching. She is currently an M.A. candidate for English Literature at the City College of New York (CCNY) and has also taught undergraduate composition courses at CCNY. Her short fiction has been published in Luna Luna Magazine, and she has contributed blog posts to New York School Talk, an education blog. Her Writopia Lab writers have won both regional and national recognition from the Scholastic Writing Awards and have also had plays or spoken word performed in Writopia's Worldwide Plays Festival. In addition to writing fiction, memoir, and songs, she is currently running her own blog, POD.DRALAND, where she combines her love of supporting fellow artists and listening to podcasts.
Alison Doherty

Instructor

Alison Doherty loves working with writers of all ages at Writopia Lab. She also teaches writing classes to freshman at The New School. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in 2016 with a concentration in writing for children and teenagers. For undergrad, Alison studied English Literature at Smith College and The University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Before moving to New York, Alison worked as a classroom teacher and a curriculum consultant at Harvard EdLabs. Now, when she isn't teaching, Alison is working on her first YA novel and writing about books for Book Riot.
Corey Haydu

Instructor

Corey Ann Haydu is thrilled to be teaching with Writopia! She is the author of the Young Adult novels OCD Love Story (Simon and Schuster 2013), Life By Committee (HarperCollins 2014), Making Pretty (HarperCollins 2015), and the middle grade novel, Rules For Stealing Stars (HarperCollins 2015). A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and The New School’s Writing for Children MFA program, Corey has been working in children’s publishing since 2009. In 2013, Corey was chosen as one of Publisher Weekly’s Flying Starts. Her books have been Junior Library Guild Selections, Indie Next Selections, and BCCB Blue Ribbon Selections.
Ben Zuckert

Instructor

Ben is looking forward to being a part of the Writopia team! He's a Brooklyn-based writer and filmmaker originally from Westchester, NY. His stories have appeared in The Westchester Review and The New York Times’ "Metropolitan Diary." His first feature film Larchmont screened at the Twin Cities Film Fest and Yonkers Film Festival in 2016. Ben is also a composer with music appearing on the PBS NewsHour. In 2019, he was recognized by the Scholastic Awards as an "outstanding educator whose dedication, commitment, and guidance are represented by student work selected for national honors." He is currently in post-production on his second film Noah Wise.
Zakiya Harris

Instructor

Zakiya Harris is thrilled to be an instructor at Writopia Lab, NYC! Zakiya joins us from Penguin Random House, where she worked as an assistant editor on both nonfiction and fiction books. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in 2016, where she focused on nonfiction writing and crafted personal essays revolving around topics such as identity and her childhood growing up in Connecticut, and she received her BA in English literature from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2014. Zakiya was first published in 2006 by American Girl Magazine after winning a contest whose prompt was to write a short story based on a simple illustration, and she’s excited to encourage a love of creativity and storytelling within other young individuals. When she isn’t working on her workplace-sci-fi novel, she’s writing book reviews for The Rumpus or falling down the deep, irresistible rabbit hole that is Spotify.
Charlotte Nicole Davis

Instructor

Charlotte Nicole Davis is thrilled to be a part of the Writopia Lab team. A 2016 graduate of The New School's Writing for Children MFA program, Charlotte is the author of the young adult fantasy novel The Good Luck Girls (Tor Teen, 2019), which was honored with a starred review from Kirkus and selected as a Kids Indie Next List pick. Her most recent work is a short story featured in the anthology A Phoenix First Must Burn (Viking Books for Young Readers, 2020). Charlotte has attended book events and conferences nationwide to talk shop about the writing process, and she cannot wait to share her love of the craft with the young people who have always inspired it.
Jared Wilson

Instructor
(and D & D Dungeon Master)

Jared Wilson started as an intern at Writopia Lab in March of 2018. He soon became an Assistant Instructor, began leading graphic novel workshops, and recently emerged as a Writopia Lab Dungeon Master. Jared is an aspiring graphic novelist and a college student finishing his last semester at Hunter College. Jared is very excited to share his passion for writing and teaching with others. He is well versed in illustration and comic book storytelling and is currently working on a graphic novel of his own. Jared is beyond excited to continue working alongside the creative minds at Writopia Lab and can't wait to experience more of the amazing stories that our imaginative students tell!