Meet Our Leadership Team
Shareen Grogan, MA.
Director
Catherine Filardi, PhD.
Associate Director
Catherine (she/her) studied Biology and English at Amherst College prior to pursuing a PhD in Zoology from the University of Washington where she studied the evolution of bird diversity across the Solomon Archipelago. She has worked as a Program Director at UM’s Wilderness Institute, as a free-lance editor and grant-writer for Missoula-area nonprofits, and as a consultant at the Writing Center for five years prior to becoming Associate Director in 2021.
Catherine’s writing advice: Putting words on a page helps you think more clearly. Just do it.
Meet our Office Assistant
Mathalia Stroethoff
Mathalia (she/her) has been a part of the Writing Center longer than any other staff member. Since 2012, Mathalia has assisted with data entry, office tasks, and recycling. Her attention to detail and shy but warm demeanor make her a valued member of our team. Mathalia is a prolific weaver and entrepreneur, selling her hand-woven pot-holders around Missoula and donating them to the Missoula Food Bank and other nonprofits. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, word searches, hiking and cross-country skiing.
Meet Our Consultants
Our professional Writing Center consultants bring a variety of academic and professional backgrounds and skills to the Writing Center. Some are current graduate students, many are published writers, all bring a wealth of relevant writing and teaching experiences and a passion for providing individualized support to writers across the UM campus.
Marko Capoferri, MFA
Marko (he/him) was born and raised in New Jersey, lived and worked in eight states as a conservation worker in a variety of capacities, and more recently settled down to receive a BA (creative writing/literature and the environment) and an MFA (poetry) at the 91次元.
Marko’s writing advice: Don’t let your brain get in the way of a good idea. There’s no substitute for the simple act of putting words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs. It’s amazing what can happen when you stop thinking and start doing; in the act of externalizing your thoughts into writing you’ll probably surprise yourself into new and unforeseen territory.
Christopher Densmore, MFA
Christopher (he/him) is an environmental essayist from a small brook in Western Massachusetts. He earned a BA from Carleton College in Minnesota and an MFA in Creative and Environmental Writing from Eastern Oregon University, where he received the Thomas Madden Scholarship and the EOU-Fishtrap Teaching Fellowship and edited the literary magazine Oregon East. He has also attended the Fishtrap Conference of Writers and the Orion Environmental Writing Workshop. At work on a collection of essays on ecological grief, parts of which are forthcoming from Flyway, he is also a bookseller at Missoula’s Fact and Fiction.
Christopher’s writing advice: Imagine a trusted friend as a reader while developing the early drafts of a piece of writing, to the point of beginning an essay as a letter. You can edit away the corniness of this scaffolding in later drafts, but starting with a particularly intimate and trusted audience in mind may help liberate you from the din of your choir of inner critics.
Kelly Franklin, MS, PhD.
Kelly (she/her) received her Bachelor of Science degree in Resource Conservation from the UM, her M.S. in Aquaculture and Aquatic Resource Management from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, and her PhD in Systems Ecology, from the UM. Kelly joined the Writing Center as a consultant after attending the graduate student workshop series during early stages of her Ph.D. and since then has led many graduate student writing workshops both in-person and online. Her work as an international consultant for the UN and academic institutions in Central and Southeast Asia involved integrating writing skills and strategies into undergraduate and graduate programs.
Kelly’s writing advice: Having a regular writing schedule and setting goals helps keep you motivated and productive. Early in a writing project, concept (or mind) mapping is a great way to brainstorm and identify connections between ideas.
Steve Kalling, MFA.
Steve (he/him) has worked with writers and aspiring teachers of writing for over twenty years. He has a bachelor’s degree in general studies with an English Teaching credential from the University of Michigan, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the 91次元. Since 2013 he has taught writing to graduate students in the Creative Pulse program, and since 2017 has worked as a consultant at the UM Writing Center. Steve has written scripts and composed music for several science communication touring programs, spends summers in a remote fire lookout in the Bitterroot Mountains, and is a jazz bassist and composer.
Steve’s writing advice: Write quickly and badly. Write something every day.
Barry Maxwell, MFA, MSW
Barry Maxwell (he/him) is a transplanted Montanan, originally from Austin, Texas. He holds master’s degrees from UM in creative writing and social work, and his essays have been nominated for the Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize with publications online and in print, including in the forthcoming craft anthology The Essay Form(s) from the Columbia University Press, edited by Jill Talbot. Barry teaches writing at UM, conducts classes and workshops for the Missoula Writing Collaborative, and is a fist-waving supporter of the arts in unexpected places, from unexpected sources.
Barry’s writing advice: Be yourself. No one else is as good at being you as you are, and there's treasure in your voice on the page. (AI will never be as fascinating as your own words!) Also, take heed of Anne Lamott’s advice to write “Sh*tty First Drafts,” and to give yourself “Short Assignments.” These bits of writerly wisdom will serve your creative voice, your academic work, and your sanity well!
Kalani Padilla, MA, MFA
Kalani (they/she) is a Filipino-American and Kama'aina writer from Mililani, Hawai'i. Kalani holds degrees in English, Film & Visual Narratives (B.A., '19) and Theology (M.A., '21) from Whitworth University in Spokane, WA, and an MFA in Poetry from UM. Kalani served as a multimodal consultant at Whitworth, and as an inclusivity writer for the Wilderness Institute in UM's College of Forestry.
Kalani's writing advice: Writing is as much a somatic/embodied activity as it is a cerebral/intellectual one; sometimes the project needs be taken out — out on a walk, on a swim, to lunch with a friend, to a bigger piece of paper, to a yoga mat — in order to grow!
Marissa Pax, Communications Studies Master’s Student
Marrissa (she/her) is a graduate student in the Communication Studies Department. She earned her B.A. in English and philosophy from the College of Saint Benedict and has worked with students in various capacities since 2020. She currently teaches COMX 111: Introduction to Public Speaking. Although she has experience with both fiction and nonfiction, her passion lies in academic writing, including everything from brainstorming to citations. She has written and presented several conference papers and is currently co-authoring a book chapter on motherhood in the public sphere. When not writing, you can find her rewatching episodes of The Golden Girls or working through her never-ending reading list.
Marissa’s writing advice: The writing process is messy—embrace it! Drafting an essay can feel intimidating, but getting words on paper is the first step toward a finished product. Work on gathering and organizing your ideas; there will be time to polish later!
Mark Schoenfeld, MFA
Mark Schoenfeld (he/him) has been a lot of things: window washer, screen printer, public radio host, middle school teacher, freelance writer, and adjunct professor to name a few. One thing he has always been is a writer—of stories, songs, and poems—which led him to earn his MFA in Creative Writing from the 91次元. When he's not with his family or working one of three jobs, you can find Mark outside, probably near moving water.
Mark's writing advice: No writer is immune to anxiety during the writing process. Get to know your apprehensions—acknowledge them; name them maybe—and then quietly usher them back to their caves while you get back to the hard work of writing.
Alex Stoffel, Clinical Mental Health Master’s Student
Alex (he/him) grew up just outside Minneapolis. He graduated with a B.S. in Recreation Management from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Alex has bounced around multiple states and held a plethora of jobs in the outdoor education and recreation industries, including many in the ski industry. Alex is currently pursuing his M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, where he hopes to combine his passion for writing with his commitment to supporting others’ mental health and well-being.
Alex’s writing advice: Push your comfort zone! Writing gives us a chance to walk in other people’s shoes. While challenging, it can be so rewarding to interpret your work through a different lens.
Willa Zhang, MFA
Willa Zhang (she/her) is a writer from the San Gabriel Valley suburbs of Los Angeles. She received her BA in English Literature from the University of Chicago and her MFA in creative writing from the 91次元, where she was the recipient of a Truman Capote Scholarship. Her essays and short stories have appeared in The Southern Review, The Hopkins Review, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She also works as a freelance writer for nonprofits.
Willa’s writing advice: Clean, clear writing is a pleasure to read. Ask yourself what specific idea you're trying to convey, and what will be the simplest and most direct way to say it? Go with that!