EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Linda is a highly experienced consulting professional and senior nonprofit executive with a proven track record of success at organizations such as the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, the Como Park Conservatory, the Carpenter Nature Center, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, as well as fifteen years as the CEO of Special Olympics Minnesota. Linda received a degree in English Literature from St. Catherine University and holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas. She also completed coursework in Leadership Theory and Development at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina.

DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Clara Geze was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She joined Coffee House Press as an intern in May 2024 and joined the staff as development associate in August. She has a degree in Education and Spanish from Illinois State University as well as a postgraduate certificate in English from Aston University.

DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITIONS AND MARKETING

Mark Haber was born in Washington DC and grew up in Florida. For the past ten years, he was a bookseller as well as the operations manager at Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Texas. Also a writer, Mark’s novels have been translated into many languages and his debut novel, Reinhardt’s Garden, was longlisted for a PEN/Hemingway Award. Mark has published numerous articles in a wide variety of publications and is an experienced teacher and academic lecturer in the field of creative writing. He holds a BA Degree in English from the University of South Florida.

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Ülrika Moats grew up in Treasure Island, Florida. She attended the Savannah College of Art & Design where she earned her BFA in Metals and Jewelry with a minor in Art History, as well as her MFA in Graphic Design. Always passionate about art and fashion, Ülrika began her career in corporate fashion merchandising and operations. In 2014 she joined Brazos Bookstore as the gift buyer and soon became the General Manager. She joined Coffee House Press as the Director of Operations in the summer of 2023.

FINANCE MANAGER

As the child of an accountant, Michael avoided destiny by focusing his post-secondary studies on philosophy and history where writings from the Age of Enlightenment enhanced a love for learning. To this end, he eventually earned a couple advanced degrees and worked as a college instructor. Although admittedly being a teacher is one of the best jobs one could ever have, he changed course at some point and became involved in a few startups finding the adrenaline thrill of creating a business. Through these experiences he learned quite a lot about product development, manufacturing, and business operations. When away from work, he surrounds himself with his children, books, board games, and the outdoors.

SPATIAL SPECIES EDITOR

Ken Chen is the recipient of the Yale Younger Poets Award, the oldest annual literary award in America, for his book Juvenilia, which was selected by the poet Louise Glück. He served as the executive director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop from 2008 to May 2019. An NEA, NYFA and Bread Loaf Fellow and National Book Award judge, Chen cofounded the cultural website Arts & Letters Daily and CultureStrike, a national arts organization dedicated to migrant justice. A graduate of Yale Law School, he is currently a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library, where he is working on Death Star, a book about his traveling to the underworld and seeing there everything that has been destroyed by colonialism. He is represented by the Wylie Agency.

SPATIAL SPECIES EDITOR

Youmna Chlala is a writer and artist born in Beirut and based in New York. Her poetry collection,The Paper Camera, was published by Litmus Press in 2019. She is the recipient of a 2018 O. Henry Prize and a Joseph Henry Jackson Award and is the founding editor of Eleven Eleven {1111} Journal of Literature and Art. Her writing appears in publications such as BOMB, Guernica, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. She has exhibited widely including at the Hayward Gallery, the Drawing Center, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Art in General, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Art Dubai, and Hessel Museum of Art. She participated in the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo, the 2017 LIAF Biennial, and the Performa 11 Biennial. She is a professor in the Humanities and Media Studies and Writing Departments at the Pratt Institute.