WRITE TO EMPOWER
Healing one story at a time.
MISSION
Write to Empower believes in storytelling to transform and uplift through the healing power of words.
OUR TEAM
Ash Wilda
Ash Wilda is a queer, disabled, Lebanese-American human with a penchant for the wild and weird. Their debut novel, The Night Fox, a YA magical realism novel in prose and poetry, came out with Penguin Random House in 2023. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. When not wandering the mountains, you can find them collecting pebbles, playing with their dog, and howling at the moon.
Azra Rahim
Azra Rahim is a Physician. Researcher. Educator. Mystic. Whirling Dervish. Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. World traveler. Writer. Cancer Survivor. Narrative Therapy Student. Kisser of all things beautiful and innocent.
Caitlin Lore
Caitlin Lore is a Midwest grown, Southeast transplant who believes in the power of story. She’s a children’s writer, poet, and creative whose writing has been supported by the Hawthornden Foundation and Boyds Mills. In her daily life, she’s a former ELA teacher turned professor. She writes essays & poetry about the interplay of faith, grief, and midlife on her Substack, The Time Given while also sharing about her writing life at Lost in Story. In her free time, she’s rarely without a book, enjoys gardening, and dabbles in several eclectic hobbies which inevitably end up in her stories. Connect with her on Instagram or her website: caitlinlore.com.
Lisa M. Bolt Simons
Former teacher and Literacy Coach, Lisa M. Bolt Simons is the author of more than 70 nonfiction and fiction children’s books, five middle grade novels, and an adult history title with more forthcoming. She’s received accolades for both her nonfiction and fiction. She’s a member of SCBWI Rocky Mountain, the AuthorsGuild, and NCTE, and a former Regional Advisor of SCBWI Minnesota. Lisa also helps writers find literary agents and publishers and runs an editorial service. You can find more information on her website: www.lisamboltsimons.com.
Loretta Chefchaouni
Loretta Chefchaouni is a former early childhood educator from Florida who writes for teens. Her fantastical tales turn grief and fear into myth and monsters and explore all the scary parts of being human within the safe space of stories. She is an alum of the Pitch Wars mentorship program and the Highlights Foundation’s Muslim Storyteller Fellowship. The Lustrous Dark is her debut novel, the first book in a YA fantasy duology and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her short story, The Little Sister, is included in the anthology A Thousand Nights, coming Sept. 8, 2026.
Rocky Callen
Rocky Callen is the critically acclaimed author of the YA novels A Breath Too Late and Crashing Into You. She was a contributing co-editor for the mental health YA anthology Ab(solutely) Normal: Sixteen Stories that Smash Mental Health Stereotypes. She recently sold her first two picture books and a novel-in-verse to Simon & Schuster. She founded HoldOn2Hope, a project that unites creatives in suicide prevention and mental health awareness. As a speaker and writing consultant, she has spoken on regional, national, and international stages on writing and books, mental health, and art and social impact. She has an MFA from the Vermont School of Fine Arts and is currently serving as the Vice President of the DC Children’s Book Guild. Find out more about her at www.rockycallen.com.
OUR PROGRAMS
Mentorships
Write to Empower offers one-on-one mentorships with authors who have written about trauma and/or grief. Mentors offer guidance to writers who want to work on their strengths, healing, and empowerment through their storytelling.
Workshops
Write to Empower workshops engage a multitude of facilitators who provide insight, reflection, and opportunities for growth. They shine a light on struggle but also contemplation and self-discovery to begin the forging of story.
Retreats
We organize single and multi-day retreats. These opportunities weave self-care with community as we spend both individual time working on our stories and time coming together in large groups to share, connect, and heal.
VISION
WE envision a world in which trauma and grief are transformed into empowerment through storytelling.