Writer Bios

We couldn't offer The Well to our readers without the generous contributions of our writers. Read through their bios to learn from their stories and click through for links to the articles they have written. If you are interested in writing for The Well, explore our Writer's Guidelines.

Patty Kirk is writer in residence and associate professor of English at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. After earning her MA she spent a decade roaming the globe before returning to the U.S. to earn an MFA in creative writing at the University of Arkansas. There, she met her husband Kris, a cattle rancher, and settled down with him on a farm in Oklahoma, where they raised their two daughters. Kirk is the author of several books including The Gospel of Christmas, Confessions of an Amateur Believer, and Starting from Scratch, a spiritually-focused food memoir. Kirk’s blog and more information about her books can be found at amateurbeliever.com.

See other contributions by this author

Aubrey Kleinfeld

Aubrey Kleinfeld serves as a Licensed Professional Counselor at her alma mater, Messiah University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Messiah and a Master’s degree in Counseling from Shippensburg University. She has been honored to practice counseling for the last 14 years, the last three at Messiah and the other eleven at a local community agency. She lives with her partner, Josh and their three daughters in York, Pennsylvania. They enjoy reading, hiking, cycling, and watching the sun rise and set.

See other contributions by this author

Aundi Kolber is a licensed professional counselor (MA, LPC), an author, and a speaker living in Castle Rock, Colorado. She has received additional training in her specialization of trauma- and body-centered therapies and is passionate about the integration of faith and psychology. She has written for Relevant, CT Women, and (in)courage. As a survivor of trauma, Aundi brings hard-won knowledge about the work of change, the power of redemption, and the beauty of experiencing God with us in our pain. Aundi is happily married to her best friend, Brendan, and is the proud mom of Matia and Jude.

See other contributions by this author

Adele Konyndyk Gallogly is a writer living in Hamilton, Ontario. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Seattle Pacific University, with an emphasis in fiction. In her spare time she explores used book stores, walks the Niagara escarpment, and eats more cheese than she should. To read more of her reflections on literature and life, go to adelegallogly.wordpress.com.

See other contributions by this author

Amy Whisenand Krall

Amy Whisenand Krall, ThD, is Assistant Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies and Assistant Program Director in the School of Humanities, Religion, and Social Science at Fresno Pacific University. Her research focuses on the role of singing in Christian maturity according to the letter to the Colossians. She completed her doctorate at the Divinity School at Duke University, where she studied New Testament with an interdisciplinary focus in Theology and the Arts, particularly music. Before her doctoral studies, Amy studied for her BA at Whitworth University, taught English at a vocational school in Germany on a Fulbright grant, and completed her MDiv at Princeton Theological Seminary.

See other contributions by this author

Tiffany Eberle Kriner

Tiffany Eberle Kriner is associate professor of English at Wheaton College. She grew up in the North Country, upstate New York, famous both for its abundant snow and its rich community life. She attended Messiah College for her BA, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison for her MA and PhD. After serving as a Carey Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame, she joined the English Department at Wheaton College in Illinois. Her first book, The Future of the Word: An Eschatology of Reading came out in 2014. When Tiffany isn’t teaching and writing, she farms sixty acres of woods and fields with her husband and two children at Root and Sky Farm in rural northern Illinois.

See other contributions by this author

Natalia Kwok is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Southern California. Upon graduation, she hopes to use her degree to specialize in developmental disabilities. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Nick (who works for Greek Intervarsity) and baby boy. In her spare time, she loves to try new foods, travel, and spend time at Disneyland with her her family.

See other contributions by this author

Christina Bieber Lake

Christina Bieber Lake is the Clyde S. Kilby professor of English at Wheaton College where she teaches classes in contemporary American literature and literary theory. Her most recent books include The Flourishing Teacher: Vocational Renewal for a Sacred Profession and Beyond the Story: American Literary Fiction and the Limits of Materialism. The Pre-school Retreat and Master Class she designed for teaching faculty can be found online. Christina also coaches, consults, and occasionally blogs at christinabieberlake.com.

See other contributions by this author

Andrea Lama is the Executive Assistant for Collegiate Ministries at InterVarsity and a graduate student at Dallas Baptist University studying Christian Ministry with a Concentration in Leading a Nonprofit. Andrea and her husband, Bijay, live in Madison, Wisconsin, where Bijay also works for InterVarsity. They share a heart for ministry to Nepal and Nepali people.

See other contributions by this author

Caroline Lancaster

Caroline Lancaster serves as InterVarsity’s Associate Director for Multiethnic Initiatives. She is a second-generation South Asian American that has lived in California, Singapore, Boston, and most recently, outside of Chicago. She left a career in marketing and design to become a campus minister with InterVarsity at Boston University. Caroline is a certified Cultural Intelligence Trainer and participated in Rev. Dr. Brenda-Salter McNeil’s Reconciliation Leaders Cohort. She has been married to her wonderful husband for nine years, and is a mother to two boys.

See other contributions by this author

Julie Lane-Gay is a freelance writer and editor. Her work has appeared in a range of publications including Reader's Digest, Fine Gardening, Faith Today, Anglican Planet, and The Englewood Review of Books. She teaches occasional courses at Regent College and also edits the college's journal, CRUX. She lives with her husband, Craig, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is active in her local Anglican church.

See other contributions by this author

Khristi Lauren Adams

Khristi Lauren Adams (MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary) is a speaker, writer, youth advocate, and ordained Baptist minister. She is the award-winning author of Parable of the Brown Girl as well as Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way and its middle grade version, Black Girls Unbossed: Young World Changers Leading the Way. Adams formerly worked as dean of spiritual life and equity at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and now is the executive director of community and belonging at The St. Paul's Schools in Maryland.

See other contributions by this author

Phyllis J. Le Peau

Phyllis J. Le Peau worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for over two decades in St. Louis and the Chicago metro area. She is also the author of several Bible study guides published by Zondervan and InterVarsity Press, including the LifeGuide Bible Studies Acts, Love, and Women of the New Testament. She and her husband, Andy, coauthored the LifeGuide Bible Study Grandparenting. They have four married children and thirteen grandchildren.

See other contributions by this author

Bronwyn Lea graduated from law school and seminary in her native South Africa, before settling in sunny California where she worked in college ministry while her husband completed his PhD. She is passionate about raising her three little kids, and writing and teaching women to be fully-equipped and fully-loved disciples of Christ. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics, RELEVANT, Think Christian, and Start Marriage Right. She belongs to the Redbud Writers Guild. Find Bronwyn on Facebook or Twitter, or follow her blog at www.bronlea.com, where she writes about the holy and hilarious.

See other contributions by this author

Helen Lee is the director of product innovation at InterVarsity Press. An award-winning writer, she has frequently covered issues of race, ethnicity, and identity in her articles and books which include The Missional Mom and Growing Healthy Asian American Churches. Helen is a frequent conference speaker, the co-founder of Ink Creative Collective and Best Christian Workplaces Institute, and the producer of several podcasts including Get in The Word with Truth’s Table.

See other contributions by this author

Leslie Leyland Fields

Leslie Leyland Fields is the award-winning author of twelve books, the founder of Your Story Matters Ministry, and an international teacher and speaker on matters of faith and culture. When not traveling, she lives on two islands in Alaska, where she has worked in commercial fishing with her family and where she leads the Harvester Island Writers' Workshop.

See other contributions by this author

Ada Limón is the author of, most recently, The Carrying, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Kingsley Tufts Award, and was named one of the Top Ten Poetry Books of 2015 by The New York Times. Her previous collections include Sharks in the Rivers, Lucky Wreck, and This Big Fake World. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and American Poetry Review, among others. She serves on the faculty of the Queens University of Charlotte Low Residency MFA program, and the 24Pearl Street online program for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. She also works as a freelance writer and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

See other contributions by this author

Lisa Liou works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as team leader for Graduate & Faculty Ministries in Southern California. In June 2014, she will graduate with an MA in Theology with an emphasis in Biblical Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Outside the office or classroom she can be found coordinating schedules and transportation for her two children or volunteering at their school. She and her husband Jeff consider themselves Midwesterners at heart, but Southern California has wooed them with culture, cuisine, and the fact that you never need to check the forecast.

See other contributions by this author

Heidi Metcalf Little

Heidi Metcalf Little is a Fellow at the Hudson Institute where she researches, writes and speaks about philanthropy and the developing world. With a passion for issues of poverty and domestic as well as international policy, she also currently serves on the Board of Social Services for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Heidi is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. After many years of globe trotting and being single, she now has her hands full with a new house in a new town with a (relatively) new husband and a precious newborn baby boy.

See other contributions by this author

Lily Liu gained most of her passion for language, culture, and world-changing through her involvement with the undergraduate and international student chapters of InterVarsity at The Ohio State University. She is currently a second year dental student at Harvard University, where she co-leads the Christian Medical & Dental Association. She blogs at savingfais.wordpress.com.

See other contributions by this author

Pages