Anja Klemp Vilgaard is a professional writer and a seasoned journalist. Educated by three of the best journalism schools in Denmark and wielding a Master’s of Editorial Management from the University of Southern Denmark (Syddansk Universitet), she is also a former newspaper editor with her third book, ‘Curse of the Seal Woman’, on the way. In 2015 Anja launched her own publishing agency, Get Ajour Publishing, and received 5 stars for her latest book ‘Kronborg Stories Untold‘.
Anja has lead numerous newspaper and magazine start-ups to long-term success, taught journalism to an international audience, freelanced, worked as a columnist and sparred with some of Denmark’s best journalists. She has served as a communications consultant, magazine editor and chair person for the NGO Crossing Borders, which specialized in conflict management via writing in the Middle East. Today she runs Get Ajour Publishing as well as her own storytelling company, ‘Get Ajour‘.
Anja conducted field research on the South African Media, post-Apartheid, as well as the Activist Aborigine Media in Australia. She has lived in Washington DC, Barcelona, Spain and Johannesburg, South Africa – combining her passion for travel, learning and writing in all of her endeavors. Her work has been published in some of Denmark’s largest newspapers and magazines.
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Shawna Kenney is an award-winning author, arts journalist and creative writing instructor. Her memoir I Was a Teenage Dominatrix (Last Gasp) enjoys international translation and has been optioned for television. She co-authored Imposters (Mark Batty Publisher), edited the anthology Book Lovers (Seal Press) and co-authored Live at the Safari Club: A History of HarDCore Punk in the Nation’s Capital (Rare Bird Books). Her nonfiction work has appeared in The New York Times, Creative Nonfiction magazine, Playboy, Bust, VICE, and Narratively, among others, while her short fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She currently serves as guest editor of Narratively’s Renegades vertical.
Shawna’s personal essays appear in numerous anthologies and she has shared her words at Goucher College, Sarah Lawrence, UCLA, California State University Long Beach, Monmouth College, the University of Maryland, Ladyfest LA, the DIY Convention, Vallekilde School of Communications (Denmark), the Hollywood Public Library, Hustler Hollywood, on NPR affiliates and on the BBC.
She received a BA in Communications from American University in Washington, DC and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She teaches creative writing in private workshops and for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
