It’s been a warmly beautiful summer! Wondering what we have packed for 2025 Young Writer’s Workshop? Well… vivid and heartfelt creative thrills; and lots of exciting activities that will leave our young writers feeling confident and inspired!
The workshop is just a few days away, and our incredible staff have been hard at work. They are ready to set the ball rolling! In the meantime, we wanted you to get to know all of us who are running the workshop.
Meet the amazing 2025 staff!
Dr. Ania Payne, Program Director
Ania Payne (she/her) is Assistant Professor in Kansas State University’s Department of English with a focus in Creative Writing and Composition and Rhetoric. She is originally from Arkansas, but she has been living in Kansas for the past nine years and has enjoyed calling Kansas her home. When she’s not writing or working, she enjoys hiking with her dogs, swimming, exploring the outdoors, and cooking new recipes. She is excited to be serving as the director of the Young Writers Workshop this year!
What is your favorite medium to write in? What about that medium speaks to you?
I love writing flash nonfiction essays. The challenge of keeping my prose short always opens up so many unexpected turns in my writing!
What piece of literature would you read over and over again?
That’s a tough question, so I think I’ll go with this: when I was the age of the young writers, I read Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy over and over again. I loved how Harriet’s sharp observational skills revealed all of these exciting mysteries beneath the mundaneness of everyday life, which inspired me to carry a pair of binoculars around as a kid.
If given the opportunity, what fictional character would you most like to have lunch with? Why are they the ideal fictional lunch mate?
Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec! I love her contagious enthusiasm, sense of humor, and love for waffles!
One adjective that describes you or your writing personality?
Obsessive. Once I start revising, I get in a bit of a revision loop and sometimes find it difficult to know when to finally put down the pen
Maranda Haile, Instructor
Maranda is an upcoming second year grad student in English at Kansas State University on the creative writing track, focusing on poetry and creative non-fiction. She also holds the editor-in-chief position for Touchstone Literary Magazine for the 2025-2026 academic year. She enjoys gothic literature, watching vampire films, and playing with her new dog.
What is your favorite medium to write in? What about that medium speaks to you?
I love writing both poetry and creative non-fiction! I love both because I get to infuse my real life experiences with art and create something beautiful from sometimes not so beautiful lived situations.
What piece of literature would you read over and over again?
Twilight! The series is super nostalgic for me.
If given the opportunity, what fictional character would you most like to have lunch with? Why are they the ideal fictional lunch mate?
Probably Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I just really like her vibe and I think we’d get along.
One adjective that describes you or your writing personality?:
I’d say either raw or real. I focus on writing about lived experiences and while I like to put creative spins on these experiences, they are still very raw and real.
Miracle Okpala, Instructor
Miracle Okpala is a graduate of English from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, where she served as president of The Weavers Club, a community of student writers, poets, and creatives. She is currently a graduate student in English at Kansas State University, pursuing a track in Creative Writing while running a blog where she shares nonfiction, poetry, and short stories. She is also the president of Creative Writing Enthusiasts (CreWE) a student organization at Kansas State University for writers. When she is not writing, she enjoys sprinting and playing soccer.
What is your favorite medium to write in? What about that medium speaks to you?
Right now, it is poetry, but I also enjoy fiction and nonfiction.
What piece of literature would you read over and over again?
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma is a wonderful read. I also enjoy short stories from Edgar Allan Poe. The Black Cat is my favorite short story so far. I love how the writer explores the psychology of guilt in his main characters.
If given the opportunity, what fictional character would you most like to have lunch with? Why are they the ideal fictional lunch mate?
Hortense from Small Island by Andrea Levy. It would be great to have her narrate her experience sailing to London on the Empire Wind Rush.
One adjective that describes you or your writing personality?
Deep and Emotional
Noah Jayne, Instructor
My name is Noah Jayne, and I just graduated from K-State University with my Master’s Degree in Creative Writing!
What is your favorite medium to write in? What about that medium speaks to you?
I love writing fiction! Characters and arcs, rising actions and resolutions, heroics and villainies, they all just have this incredible art to them that I have always appreciated.
What piece of literature would you read over and over again?
The movie WALL-E. But if I had to choose a book, then perhaps Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.
If given the opportunity, what fictional character would you most like to have lunch with? Why are they the ideal fictional lunch mate?
I mean, I basically have to say Peter Parker. We would have the best time joking around and then have some really serious heart-to-heart moments. I think we’d get along well.
One adjective that describes you or your writing personality?
Joyful, but not always in the most obvious way. I love crafting beauty in unexpected places and making heroes out of unlikely people.
Mary Adeyemo, Program Assistant
Mary Adeyemo is a graduate student of the department of English, Kansas State University. She belongs to the Writing, Rhetoric & Technical Communication track. Mary enjoys speaking in public, hosting events and creating media artifacts that tell stories about people and events. She’s the Lead Trainer of The Speech Squad, an organization that provides skills training and mentorship to high school students. Mary speaks three languages and enjoys learning phrases of new languages to connect with people from various places. She’s from Agbeye town in Osun State, Nigeria.
What is your favorite medium to write in? What about that medium speaks to you?
I enjoy writing poetry and non-fiction. It’s hard to choose a favourite, but if I had to choose just one, I’ll probably go for non-fiction
What piece of literature would you read over and over again?
Purple Hibiscus by Chimananda Adichie or Leota’s Garden by Francine Rivers
If given the opportunity, what fictional character would you most like to have lunch with? Why are they the ideal fictional lunch mate?
Sherlock & Dillion Savich from the Catherine Coulter series!
One adjective that describes you or your writing personality?
Exploratory. I think of my writing as a child trying to eat and playing with the food. I enjoy going round and round- creating a puzzle for myself, and then returning to sort it out.
We are all very excited for the workshop to begin next Monday, and look forward to meeting the 2025 group of young writers. For daily updates of what your young writers are up to, follow us on this blog as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Make sure to check back in next week to see what we have planned for this year’s workshop! See you on Monday, July 7!
-Mary Adeyemo, Program Assistant
K-State Young Writers' Workshop 