Lyzette Wanzer

Lyzette Wanzer, MFA, is a San Francisco author and creative writing workshop instructor. Her work has appeared in over 25 literary journals, magazines, columns, and books. She is a contributor to The Chalk Circle: Intercultural Prizewinning Essays (Wyatt-MacKenzie), Civil Liberties United: Diverse Voices from the San Francisco Bay Area (Pease Press), and 642 Tiny Things to Write About (Chronicle Books). Lyzette is judge of the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition’s Intercultural Essay category and the Women’s National Book Association’s Effie Lee Morris Literary Awards’ Nonfiction category. Lyzette has presented her work at conferences across the country, including the American and Popular Culture Association, AWP, College English Association, Louisville Conference on Literature & Culture, Litquake, San Francisco Writers Conference, and others. A member of the National Writers’ Union, the Authors Guild, and the Writers' Grotto, Lyzette has been awarded writing residencies in six states and Canada. She has received grants from the Center for Cultural Innovation, California Humanities, Horned Dorset Colony Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and a Teaching Fellowship from Arizona’s Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing. Lyzette teaches creative writing workshops across a breadth of community centers and arts organizations. She runs the majority of her workshops as participatory roundtable seminars (yes, even on Zoom!) Her book, Trauma, Tresses, & Truth: Untangling Our Hair Through Personal Narrative, was published in 2022 (Chicago Review Press). Find more at lyzettewanzermfa.com.