Jzl Jmz, Poetry Instructor
JZL JMZ (FKA jayy dodd) beamed down in Los Angeles ’92 & is reuploading herself
to the internet. Her professional career includes positions at Blavity, The Offing, Winter Tangerine & more. She’s been featured in the LA Times, Poetry Magazine, Oprah Magazine, Ms. Magazine, PEN America, Willamette Weekly, The New York Public Library & several anthologies. She’s the author of Mannish Tongues (Platypus Press 2017) & The 2021 Poetry Center Book Prize-winning: The Black Condition ft. Narcissus (Nightboat 2019), and Local Woman (forthcoming Nightnoat Books 2025). She curated Beyond Special Issue (a collective critique on tokenism in (Trans*) poetry) & THEE SPACE Poetry Prize with Shade Literary Arts. She’s editing Bettering American Poetry Vol. 2 (Bettering Books 2017) & A Portrait in Blues (Platypus Press 2019). Her film & performance works have been installed & screened across the country from classrooms to museums. She has been a Lambda Literary Fellow, Precipice Art Grant Recipient through Portland’s Institute of Contemporary Art & Artist-in-Residence at Ori Gallery. She’s an occasional rapper & founder of Tournament.Haus Mutual Aid Fund. Find her talking slick or in another dimension.
Michael Heald, Prose Instructor
Michael Heald graduated from the IPRC’s Prose Certificate Program in 2011. For his final project, he founded Perfect Day Publishing, a small press that has released one book of creative nonfiction per year (or so) for the past decade. He works closely with authors whose manuscripts are typically unfinished at the time they are acquired, and he believes that editing should be a collaborative process. Perfect Day’s catalog includes two Oregon Book Award finalists and a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Since 2013, Michael has taught creative writing and zinemaking to teenagers at the Pendleton Rock ‘n Roll Camp, and in 2020–2021 he led a 24-week-long class for adults called “Write a Book” through the IPRC. He is the author of Goodbye to the Nervous Apprehension, a collection of essays. His writing has appeared in Runner’s World magazine, Oregon Humanities, Big Big Wednesday, and Vol. 1 Brooklyn, among other publications. When he’s not giving his dog belly rubs, he works as a freelance editor
Jakelen Diaz, Art Book Instructor
Jakelen is a Salvadoran-Guatemalan American artist and designer with a passion for community and education. After completing undergraduate studies in art & design and philosophy, Jakelen went on to complete the IPRC’s Art Book Certificate Program in 2019 and self-published her first artist book THE AMBIGUITY OF A DEPARTURE WITHOUT A RETURN. She has since continued to work on a variety of print and publication projects, such as the semi-monthly micro-zine Everything is so Much, and is the current studio manager at the IPRC.
Krystle May Statler, Chapbook Design Instructor
Krystle May Statler (she/her) is a Black-multiracial artist and designer, holding an MFA from Otis College of Art & Design and is a graduate of the IPRC’s Poetry Portfolio Program. Her debut poetry collection, Prayer for Relief, was released in March 2024 and more of her works are featured in Fugue Journal, Fourteen Hills, Sixfold, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Poetry from Instructions, poetry.onl, among others or are forthcoming.
Her design experience is diverse, with an emphasis on poetry and hybridity while also designing logos, marketing materials, children’s books, and more. Over the last eight years, Krystle has worked as a freelance designer for self-publishing clients, the Book Production Manager for The World Stage Press, a graphic designer for the Community Literature Initiative, and a typesetting assistant for Otis Books/Seismicity Editions. Her latest design adventure is being the in-house interior and cover designer for Mama’s Kitchen Press.
When she’s not designing books, Krystle can be found volunteering with the Portland Grief House as the Fundraising Board Chair and Epiphany Magazine as a poetry reader, working as the Director of Operations at The Pathfinder Network, or nurturing life with her partner Kevin, their plant babies, and oodles of loved ones.
To see more of her work, visit krystlemaystatler.com or send her an email at krystle.statler@outlook.com to connect.