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The Power of Telling the Truth on the Page: Meet Danielle Leukam
Danielle Leukam didn’t set out to be a writer. Or maybe she did, before life altered her path. After surviving a horrific attack, she turned to writing as a way to process trauma, reclaim her power, and advocate for other survivors. Her journey is one of strength, survival, and empowerment, using her voice to speak for those who have been silenced.
Turning Grief into Art, Pain into Purpose: Meet Robyn Spodek-Schindler
Robyn Spodek-Schindler is a therapist, artist, and author whose work is shaped by her lived experience with grief. Her debut book, Three Brave Stars, helps families talk about death and healing with children through heartfelt storytelling and imaginative world-building. In this Beyond the Narrative interview, Robyn shares how writing became a cathartic tool for connection and emotional processing, and how she hopes her story offers comfort to those moving through loss.
A Home in Her Own Words: Meet Kaniz Hossain
Poet and visual artist Kaniz Hossain uses writing to reclaim identity, challenge silence, and create community. Her Bengali-American heritage and experience growing up in a Muslim household inform her poetry, which confronts topics like mental health, womanhood, and faith. Through her platform House of Khaos, Kaniz cultivates creative spaces for underrepresented voices. In this Beyond the Narrative feature, she reflects on self-publishing, the power of representation, and poetry as both refuge and resistance.
On Art, Mental Health, and Finding Strength Through Expression: Meet Dani Fallon
Dani Fallon is a poet and visual artist from Long Island whose work explores mental health, identity, and relationships. Her debut poetry collection Nothing at All or All at Once reflects on the emotional complexities of growing up, living with OCD, and learning to take up space. In this Beyond the Narrative feature, Dani shares how creativity has been both a tool for survival and a way to connect with others through honesty and reflection.
Using Intuition and Authenticity to Inspire Creativity: Meet Angelina Young
Angelina Young is a writer, designer, and podcast host whose work is rooted in intuition, authenticity, and the power of dreams. In this Beyond the Narrative feature, Angelina opens up about following her inner voice during a chaotic season and learning to create from a place of truth. Drawing from her mixed cultural background and connection to the subconscious, she reminds us that creativity is both a tool for healing and a bridge to self-discovery.
On Breaking Boundaries and Uncovering Truth: Meet Jessica Payes
Through her poetry collections, Manipulated and Temporary Lovers, poet Jessica Payes addresses mental health, heartbreak, and emotional growth with unfiltered honesty. Her work challenges societal taboos, offering healing and connection to readers navigating similar paths. In this Beyond the Narrative feature, Jessica opens up about grief, resilience, and her journey of using poetry as both self-expression and survival.
Writing as a Bridge Between Identity and Community: Meet Aurelia Luciano
Dominican American poet and community organizer Aurelia Luciano turns poetry into a mirror, a bridge, and a movement. Writing from her Afro-Latinx identity, she transforms personal history into collective power. In this Beyond the Narrative feature, Aurelia opens up about healing through writing, building safe creative spaces, and redefining storytelling as a tool for growth, identity, and liberation. Her voice is both an offering and an invitation.
Where Vulnerability Meets Creativity: Meet Patty Ihm
In this Beyond the Narrative feature, author Patty Ihm reflects on how writing has shaped her life as a mother, foster parent, and creative. Through vulnerability and emotional honesty, she turns personal experiences into powerful stories—like her coming-of-age novel Goldie Bird and her memoir Isn’t That Enough?. Patty shares how writing became both refuge and release, showing that storytelling is about presence, purpose, and truth. Her journey reminds us that in the chaos of everyday life, there is beauty, healing, and a story worth telling.
Embracing Duality and Cultural Identity: Meet Cecilia Dagdagan
Filipina-American poet Cecilia shares her powerful story of embracing cultural identity, self-discovery, and creative expression in this Beyond the Narrative interview. Through her poetry and prose, Cecilia reflects on leaving behind comfort to find her voice, honoring her ancestry, and reclaiming space for multifaceted identity. Her chapbook Shades of Suede is a tribute to healing, movement, and the strength found in vulnerability.
Beyond the Narrative: An Interview Series Amplifying the Voices of Women Writers
Beyond the Narrative celebrates women writers who are breaking barriers and rewriting the rules of publishing. It explores how identity, lived experience, and cultural perspective shape powerful stories, and why inclusive representation in literature matters. This blog calls attention to the gaps in the industry—and honors the women filling them with truth, resilience, and creativity.