Veronica Antov
Veronica Antov is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative and a rising freshman at Taft School. She is an aspiring poet and novelist, as well as an avid reader. She attended Rumsey Hall School, where she was a dedicated member of the Creative Writing Club. Moreover, she took Choate Summer Programs’ Creative Writing course, and was recognized by the Scholastic Writing Awards. Veronica’s greatest inspirations in writing are nature, art, and the human psyche. Some of her other hobbies and passions include playing piano, reading and rereading James Baldwin, sketching flowers and insects, and honing her HTML skills.
Kayla Caldwell
Kayla Caldwell is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative. She is also a rising junior at Wethersfield High School. Kayla is a member of her school’s literary magazine club, the culinary club, GSA, and other extracurriculars. She aspires to publish several books in different genres, become an accomplished designer, and continue to create art. When she isn’t writing, Kayla enjoys playing video games and hanging out with her friends.
Cassie Goundrey
Cassie Goundrey is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative at The Mark Twain House and Museum. She is a rising senior at Westminster School, where she earned the Critchell Rimington creative writing award and won the fifty years of co-education essay contest. Cassie loves to create narratives that twist and turn, leaving the reader breathless. When not writing, she enjoys reading, crocheting, and playing field hockey as the goalie of her high school team.
Rowan Hodgkins
Rowan Hodgkins is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative, and a rising freshman at Bacon Academy. They have been a member of both Vernon Center Middle School’s Creative Writing Club and the EPOCH Arts program, where they took part in the Inside Out Project: a series of global community-based art installations. Rowan has also participated in MCC’s Excursions in Learning with a focus on creative storytelling and acting & playwriting programs. They are an aspiring author, which has led them to publishing fanfiction. Aside from writing, Rowan enjoys painting, sketching, and reading in their free time.
Maia Killory
Maia Killory is a rising senior at Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford and an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative at The Mark Twain House and Museum. Maia loves crafting unsettling prose that flips the reader’s perspective of reality. When she’s not writing, Maia enjoys running, playing the piano, and spending time with family and friends.
Athena Lavigne
Athena Lavigne is a rising Junior at Rockville High School. She is an apprentice at the Nook Farms Writing Collaborative. She has been a Fresh Voices finalist, published in the Poetry Ourselves Anthology, and has a published platinum piece in the Connecticut Student Writer magazine. Athena also won a gold key in the Scholastic Art and Writing competition. When she is not writing poetry, Athena likes to embrace other arts. She likes to sew and crochet, in which she started a club for, and enjoys drawing and reading.
Annalisa Little
Annalisa Little is an apprentice at Nook Farm Writers Collaborative and a rising first-year student at Western Michigan University, focusing on a major in Creative Writing and a minor in Spanish. Annalisa creates both poetry and fiction that focuses on the human condition and the emotional connections between individuals. Besides writing, Annalisa enjoys creating various forms of art and spending time with family and friends.
Xenia Valentin
Xenia Valentin is an apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative and a rising junior at Wethersfield High School. She is a member of her school’s literary magazine, GSA, creative writing club, and other extracurriculars. Xenia is an aspiring novelist, having won writing challenges such as NaNoWriMo and publishing fanfiction online regularly. When she’s not writing, Xenia enjoys reading, drawing, and watching anime.
Kimberly Yankson
Kimberly Yankson, a rising senior at Rockville High School, is a returning apprentice at the Nook Farm Writers Collaborative. Her work has been published in the Poetry Ourselves anthology, the Write On, Black Girl magazine, and the Connecticut Student Writers magazine where she earned a platinum award. Moreover, she was a featured reader at Arts Center East’s Black History event. Kimberly finds inspiration through music and her life’s experiences. When she is not writing poetry or fiction, she likes to dance, sing, act and dabble in songwriting.