Ava DellaFera
Ava DellaFera is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative. She is a rising senior at Hall High School where she is a co-founder of the psychology club and on the tennis team. Ava is also an active member of her youth town councils and teen boards, alongside her volunteering commitments at local elementary schools. When writing, she enjoys experimenting with different forms of poetry and short fiction stories that draw inspiration from art and tropes that weave in her own experiences and perspective.
Mackenzie Delpha
Mackenzie AnneMarie Delpha, a rising junior at East Granby Middle/High School, is an apprentice at Nook Farm Writers Collaborative. Her work has been published multiple times with Young Writers. Moreover, she loves to read and is an avid participant in her school’s creative writing club as well as the yearbook committee. Mackenzie finds inspiration through her family, life experiences, song lyrics, and horror movies. When she is not writing, she loves to travel, go to random bookstores, and spend time with her family.
Susan Haberlandt
Susan Haberlandt is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative. She is a rising junior at Classical Magnet School where she is an active member of the drama club, both on stage and backstage. As for her poetry, Susan draws inspiration from world events, people, and all kinds of art. When she is not writing or acting, she enjoys photography, reading, playing piano and organ, and traveling.
Iris Hida
Iris Hida is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative at The Mark Twain House and Museum. She is a junior at Rockville High School, mentee in the 2024 Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship program, and member of Richie Hoffman’s Ellipsis poetry workshop. Iris was a semi-finalist in the Smith College Poetry Prize and Finalist for the Sunken Garden Fresh Voices Poetry Competition. Her work has won a Gold key, Silver key and Honorable Mention from Scholastic Art and Writing. CT Student Writer awarded her Platinum, Gold, and Silver for her poetry and short stories, she was also the selected reader for the ceremony in 2023 and published in their magazine. Iris has won third and an honorable mention in the Lynn Decaro Poetry Competition and was designated excellence from the Achievement Awards in Writing NCTE.
Cacelie Gooden
Cacelie Gooden is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative who is a rising senior at The Academy of Aerospace and Engineering. She enjoys reading and writing works of non- fiction, and is also very passionate about advocacy and social justice. In her spare time, she enjoys painting murals, performing research, and participating in civic engagement activities.
Aryan Grover
Aryan Grover is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative, and a rising senior at Hall High School, where he is an editor for the newspaper, The Titan Times. His work has been published in the Foyle Young Poets Anthology. Outside of writing poetry, he enjoys running, playing piano, reading a lot of novels and philosophy, and listening to rock music.
Aanum Khan
Aanum Khan is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative and a rising junior at Loomis Chaffee. She enjoys exercising her creative skills to construct fictional worlds with descriptions that leave readers breathless. Aanum’s work has been published in The Loom and has garnered recognition at her school’s English Tea. When not writing, she also enjoys acting, discussing politics, and visiting museums.
Athena Lavigne
Athena Lavigne is a rising Senior at Rockville High School. She is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative. She has been a Fresh Voices finalist, published in the Poetry Ourselves Anthology, and has a multiple published platinum piece in the Connecticut Student Writer magazine. Athena also won Gold Keys and an American Voices Nominee in the 2024 Scholastic Art and Writing competition. When she is not writing poetry, Athena likes to embrace other arts. She enjoys sewing and crocheting, in which she started a club, as well as drawing and reading.
Madi Maiolo
Madi Maiolo is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative at The Mark Twain House and Museum. She is an incoming sophomore at Rockville High School, where she has received an honorable mention in Scholastic’s Art and Writing Competition, as well as a finalist in Hill-stead Museum’s Fresh Voices Competition. Madi enjoys writing poetry in her free time, as well as exploring many different poetic elements and grammar rules. When she’s not hiding behind her laptop, Madi adores playing volleyball, being an anchorwoman for her school news, watching cheesy rom-coms, and studying true crime.
Robert Ravens-Seger
Robert Ravens-Seger is a rising senior at East Granby High School and an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative who aspires to be a novelist, screenwriter, and showrunner. He won a Best Fiction Reading Award at East Granby High School. While Robert’s preferred genre of writing is science fiction, he dabbles in poetry. His main inspirations are nature, history, and the human condition. In his free time, he enjoys reading, building and painting models, and watching Doctor Who, Star Wars, and anything in the Marvel universe.