Rosemarie Dombrowski, PhD, Founding Director & Facilitator
In addition to her role as founding director of Revisionary Arts, Rosemarie Dombrowski, PhD is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Phoenix, AZ, a Teaching Professor at Arizona State University, and the founding editor of ISSUED: stories of service, a journal dedicated to showcasing military-affiliated voices and building a community of compassion. She’s also the creator and facilitator of Verse for Vets, a poetic medicine program for veterans and sponsored by the Office for Veteran and Military Academic Engagement at ASU. Additionally, Rosemarie is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Bioethics and Medical Humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, where she serves as the faculty editor of Grey Matter, the school’s medical poetry journal. She’s also the curator of the Pharmacy of Poems in the Compassion Center at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix.
As a Medical Humanist, Rosemarie’s scholarship and creative work lies at the intersection of poetry and medicine. Accordingly, her first poetry collection, The Book of Emergencies (Five Oaks Press, 2014), is a lyrical exploration of congenital cardiac disorders as well as nonverbal Autism, both of which afflict her son (now 25). Her most recent scholarship, “Narrative-Poetic Medicine for Student Veterans in Higher Ed,” appeared in Higher Ed Military in October 2023.
Rosemarie’s 20+ years as a community and university-based literary arts educator and program developer has earned her numerous awards, including an Arts Hero Award, a Great 48 award, a Women & Philanthropy grant, a Fellowship from the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics, and a Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. In 2022, she gave a TEDx talk entitled “The Medicinal Value of Poetry” and was named Speaker of the Year by Arizona Humanities. In 2023, she was the recipient of the Arizona Capitol Times Leader of the Year Award in the Arts & Culture category.
Learn more about her publications and projects at rdpoet.com
Melissa Leto, Lead Facilitator
Melissa Leto is a writer from New York who now lives near the Beeline Highway and Salt River on Hohokam land. Her/Their work has appeared in KHORA, Bloody Funny Zine, Shrew Lit Magazine, Tom Maxedon’s Word podcast, and Write On Downtown. Their wordmaking weaves joy through trauma, grief, and PTSD infused with the interconnectedness of the alive world and queer love in realms of hybridity. She received an MFA from Northern Arizona University, she teaches for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at ASU, and is an editor for rinky dink press.
Mara-Clarisa Boiangiu, Social Media Coordinator, Researcher, & Facilitator
Mara Boiangiu is a graduate of Barrett the Honors College, at Arizona State University, where she earned degrees in Neuroscience and Global Health. As an undergraduate, Mara worked with nonprofits, conducted neuroscience research at the Biodesign Institute, and led various organizations on and off campus. Mara is currently in pursuit of a MSc in Global Health at Georgetown University, with an expected graduation date of May 2024. During her time at Georgetown, she has done research for the Georgetown University Department of Global Health and volunteered in the surgical department at MedStar Hospital. As she awaits medical school, she continues to work in the intersection of poetry and medicine. In her free time, she loves to write poetry, take pictures, and travel.
Alyssa Klink, Facilitator
Alyssa Klink received her undergraduate degree in journalism and political science from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication in the spring of 2020. Since graduating, she has become Revisionary Art’s Impact & Outreach Coordinator. While in school, she worked as an editor for ASU’s community-oriented publication, Write On, Downtown, and has been writing prose and poetry for several years.
Alyssa is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Health Humanities within the School of Health and Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Debbi O’Der, Facilitator
Debbi O’Der is a lifelong learner who started her poetry journey at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts over 40 years ago, where she graduated with Honors. She continues to study and participate in workshops throughout the valley. While often described as funny and lighthearted, much of her work involves the processing of trauma and loss.
Debbi’s current mission is to bring poetry therapy to communities that have not had access to the self-expression and personal development that poetry affords us. When not working on her poetry and a memoir, Debbi loves to watch movies and listen to live music, especially the blues. She also is a “rescue fail” who has been adopted by four cats and three dogs.
Emilie Lu, Intern Supervisor & Facilitator
Emilie Lu is a graduate of Arizona State University and Barrett, the Honors College who enjoys dancing between the lines of science and art. She earned a degree in Medical studies in May 2021 and is a creative nonfiction writer and also dabbles in other art like watercolor painting, drawing, pen doodling, and playing piano. She’ll be embarking on a graduate program in Anatomy at the University of Arizona in the Fall of 2023.
Danielle Du, Facilitator
Danielle Du is a graduate of the premed program at Arizona State University and Barrett, the Honors College. A lifelong writer turned science lover, she enjoys creativity in all its varied forms, with poetry at the top of her list. When she isn’t reading, writing, or crafting, you might find her fawning over her mineral collection or walking her cat with her partner.
Bailey Adams, Facilitator
Bailey Adams received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State in the spring of 2022 and will begin a graduate programs in marriage and family counseling at Seattle University in the Fall of 2023, with an emphasis in LGBTQIA+ and identity-related struggles. Bailey is particularly interested in blending various forms of therapy and is currently trying to use these combinations to provide a more personalized therapy experience. In addition to writing poetry, Bailey enjoys hiking, rock climbing, drawing, and kayaking. Her favorite colors are teal and lavender, and she loves cats and octopuses!
Revisionary Arts 