PenTales is a pretty awesome group of creative souls, if we may say so ourselves. We started in New York with just two people (Saskia and Stephanie). From there the project grew exponentially. We’ve had countless friends lend a hand or their apartments for salon nights. And, that’s basically the story of PenTales. Friends, friends of friends and perfect strangers working together to build a space – both physical and virtual – where stories and the people behind them matter. It’s a lofty goal, we admit. But, we think we’re doing a pretty good job at it (did we mention we have full-time jobs and this is just a hobby?).
So, here’s to everyone who’s helped out along the way: Thank you! And, to the many other people who will join us as we continue our mission of connecting people and places one story at a time. (Please shoot us an email and let us know how you want to play a part. There are no shortage of ways. In fact, we’d be excited if you proposed something yourself. The main gist is that we want to bring together unique perspectives in whatever shape or form we can.)
OUR (current) TEAM
ELISE NARDIN – PUNDIT / EDITOR OF LIFE LESSONS
Elise currently resides in Zurich where she works for a nonprofit organization and an Internet company. Passionate about books, at the age of 15 she wanted to open a children’s bookstore. Years have passed by, yet there remains a desire to develop the idea further. Still a bookworm, Elise always needs to smell a book and get a good vibe before buying it. She is convinced that memories and stories are a person’s most valuable possessions. Curious about new technologies and their role in redefining how people interact with each other, Elise is the instigator of PenTales’ new venture ‘Voice of the Ancients’, a tribute to seniors’ stories and lives.
Diego Gomez Pickering – SYRIA INSTIGATOR
A Mexican freelance journalist and author currently based in Damascus, Diego is a regular contributor of PeriscopePost.com and a columnist at El Diario de Mexico Edition USA, the largest Spanish language daily on the Eastern Coast. His work has been translated into Arabic and Kiswahili.
Val – PENTALES ICELAND
Born in Reykjavík, Iceland, Valgerður grew up barefoot in South Bend, Indiana, but was educated primarily in upstate New York. She has been writing about music, theater, politics, and Icelandic culture for the Reykjavík Grapevine since 2006, when she began as an editorial intern at the age of seventeen. Valgerður is interested in artistic collaboration, and the integration of various art forms in the hopes of exploring a transcendent, aesthetic language. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor?s degree in philosophy at the University of Iceland.
Mick McGuire – SAN FRANCISCO INSTIGATOR/ADVISOR
Mick McGuire is the Founder and Managing Member of Marcato Capital Management, a value investor in the public markets. Prior to forming Marcato, McGuire was a Partner at Pershing Square Capital Management and also served as the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Borders Group, Inc. McGuire has spent his entire career in private and public equity investing and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in economics from Princeton University. Mick finds inspiration in any kind of live performance. He became enamored with PenTales from the very first New York gathering, and considers PenTales? initiatives to be a much-needed creative complement to his profession as an investment manager. Now in San Francisco, Mick looks forward to enjoying more of the great moments that happen when people put down their Smartphones, open their minds, and express themselves.
Liesl Schillinger – ADVISOR
Liesl Schillinger has been an enthusiastic supporter of and participant in PenTales from its inception and is a passionate advocate of global cultural and creative exchange. She?s a regular contributor to The New York Times Book Review, an occasional translator of fiction (from German, Italian, and French), and writes on books, culture, the arts, and politics for a variety of publications. She contributed to one of PenTales traveling books, which also contain entries by Sean Wilsey, Daphne Beal, Katie Kitamura, and Hadley Freeman.
Stephanie Ursula Hodges – COFOUNDER / DIRECTOR
Stephanie Ursula Hodges is fascinated by cities and curious about the people who live in them. She holds a B.A. from Harvard University and is currently studying urbanism at New York University. The last few years, she spent working in the public sector helping build productive urban spaces in which communities can thrive. Stephanie is inspired by her grandmother, Margaret Hodges, who believed you could slay dragons through storytelling. She is trying to carry on that mission, one story at a time.
Ezra Wolkenfeld – PENTALES PUNDIT
Ezra currently resides in Washington Heights, New York. He graduated from UCLA in June 2009, majoring in cognitive science and history. He always keeps an eye out for creative opportunities, and believes that everyone has a story to tell.
Maham Suhail – LAHORE INSTIGATOR/CONTRIBUTOR
Maham is basically a poetess/writer, born in Karachi and raised up in Lahore, the City of Lively People. She is currently working as an Associate Director with two sitcoms at APlus Entertainment Channel in Lahore, after having completed her TV Journalism course from the South Asian Free Media Association. She is a visual artist, a writer, and a singer. Through her work with PenTales, she hopes to bring people closer to her home, Pakistan, which she believes has a lot of undiscovered potential.
Maria Arrocha – PANAMA CITY INSTIGATOR
Maria is a woman of many trades: a poet, writer, attorney, yogi, and surfer. She initiated her literary career at the young age of 14 and published her first work at 18. She is an unstoppable cultural promoter in Panama where she has worked on projects such as ?Jueves de Algo? and ?Recital 80.” She is currently working on her fourth poetic work named The Sea, which will be handwritten and then digitalized. She also leads AROC, the first firm which specializes in intellectual property in Panama.
Saskia Miller COFOUNDER/ ADVISOR
Saskia is passionate about exploring communication between people, communities, cultures, and is not ashamed to cry or laugh out loud while reading a good story. She holds an M.A. from the Free University of Berlin in cross-cultural communications, a passion she first explored in her undergraduate studies at New York University?s Gallatin School. In addition to co-instigating PenTales projects, Saskia works as an event creator and actress, and has contributed to Art India magazine, GridSkipper travel blog, The Berliner Gazette, and the UN’s Art for the World publication.
Tiffany Jade Colon PENTALES PUNDIT
Tiffany is a graduate of CUNY Brooklyn College where she studied English for four years, constantly dreaming about being a creative writing major. What kept her from switching over officially were the voices of those more wise than she repeating over and over again that she would be a starving artist for the rest of her days. Little did they know she would be a starving artist either way. She believes that story telling is one of the most important tools to use in reminding others that all human kind is the same at the root, and that we all want the same things- love, success, and acceptance.
Louisa Lowenstein BERLIN INSTIGATOR / HEMMINGWAY ROOM HOST
Louisa has worked as a journalist and photographer for Vanity Fair and The European among other publications. Disappointed by what people want or don?t want to read every morning, she?s now planning on abandoning journalism to become a full-time writer?or something else entirely. Having grown up in a family of six sisters, Louisa has never had a shortage of stories to tell. Her family always called her ?The Hoover,? not only for the amount of food she could eat but also for the way she manages to absorb and remember every story she has ever heard, seen, read, or experienced.
Verity Oberg BERLIN INSTIGATOR
Verity Oberg grew up with the allied forces in occupied Berlin, shaping her interest in contemporary history and urban development. After studying at New School University (NYC) and Humboldt University (Berlin), Oberg holds private tours of her hometown and recently completed an audio guide to Berlin. She works in the Arts as a freelance writer, curator and as the gallerist behind Retramp Gallery.
Olivia Salazar-Winspear PARIS INSTIGATOR
Olivia was born in Rio de Janeiro in a tropical rainstorm. She swiftly moved to Britain for a childhood filled with drizzle. Since then, she has lived on a volcanic island and in various places across Europe. She works at The News, which she occasionally admits to making up (her editors may or may not know this). Olivia enjoys writing postcards, reading subtitles, and discovering flavors of carbonated drinks she never knew existed.
