Rockland County Writers Festival

Dr. Joseph Ozias is an Assistant Professor of English at Central Methodist University. He earned his PhD in English, Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Cincinnati. He has published a number of articles for Philip Roth Studies, examining Roth’s novels such as American Pastoral, The Human Stain, and Sabbath’s Theater. He has received various awards for his writing, including the Judith Yaross Lee Publication Grant from the American Humor Studies Association, the John Updike Review Emerging Writers Prize, and the Siegel/McDaniel Award from the Philip Roth Society.

With a master’s in both creative writing and education, Rebecca Watkins has taught writing to people of all ages and believes sharing our words can heal, inspire, and connect us. Her creative nonfiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Writers Resist, The Palisades Review, the Amethyst Review, Ginosko Literary Journal, Hole in the Head Review, and The Roanoke Review, among other literary journals. Her creative nonfiction has been shortlisted for The Malahat Review‘s Open Season Awards. She is the author of Field Guide to Forgiveness (Finishing Line Press 2023) and Sometimes, in These Places (Unsolicited Press 2017). More of her work can be found at rebeccawatkinswriter.com and @rwatkinswriter.

Donna Lee Miele writes, edits, and slings literature from her longtime home of Rockland County, New York. She’s had stories and essays published in Massachusetts Review, Blood Orange Review, North Dakota Quarterly, and elsewhere. As the managing editor for Inkwell Journal, a copy editor for University of Illinois Press, a freelancer for many others, and in occasional writing circles, she loves working with writers and their wild array of voices. Most days you will find her at The Sparkle Bookstore in Sparkill, New York.

Juan Pablo Mobili was born in Buenos Aires and adopted by New York. In January of 2025, he became Poet Laureate of Rockland County, New York. His poems have appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Louisville Review, and Hanging Loose Press, among other publications in the United States, as well as publications in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. He has received multiple Pushcart and Best of the Net nominations, and his chapbook, Contraband, was published in 2022.

Gregory DiDona has been teaching creative writing and composition for the past 17 years and is currently an adjunct lecturer of English and an academic administrator at Dominican University New York. He earned his MFA in Poetry from CUNY Brooklyn in 2005. In his first professional publication, the editor referred to him as a “that” instead of a “who” and he’s been chasing that high ever since.

James Reitter was born in Germany but grew up in the Hudson Valley and has been teaching English and Film Studies at Dominican University New York since 2011. He has published books of poetry and literary critical analysis, and chapters/articles on folklore and film. He also runs the online literature and arts journal, Masque and Spectacle.

John Sotham is a retired Air Force colonel with 30 years of active and reserve service primarily in aircraft maintenance, security forces/air base defense, and manpower and personnel. He is a former associate editor of Air & Space Smithsonian, where he was the researcher and aerospace technical editor for special edition posters and was the magazine’s book reviews editor. Mr. Sotham is an adjunct instructor in the Lee Caplin School of Communication and Journalism within FIU College of Architecture and the Arts and currently serves as an Associate Director within the university’s Career and Talent Development office.