Back when we introduced the new Contributing Editors we promised to introduce all these new Writers and Columnist you’ve noticed around Autostraddle dot com. That time has come.

I know what you’re thinking:

Who’s a homebody and proud of it?
Who was handcuffed to their girlfriend BEFORE they started dating?
Who became a black belt after being inspired by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Who was in Seventeen magazine?

Its time to find out these things and more! Here are the new Writers and Columnists who’ve been slaving away at their laptops — making beer, writing in journals, cooking, instagramming, traveling, slamming poems, queering science and smoking weed — just for you.

SINDU

Writer

website / tumblr / tweeter

Sindu is a writer and activist who focuses on traditionally silenced voices — the immigrant, the poor, the queer, the female-bodied, the non-Christian, the non-white. She has an M.A. in English and plans on pursuing a PhD at some point in the future. Right now she’s working on a novel about a Sri Lankan American lesbian in a marriage of convenience.

Interesting Facts:

+ Sailor Moon was my root.

+ I’m that writer that owns a black cat and brews beer on the weekends. Don’t judge.

+ I truly and honestly believe that stories can change the world.

[more]

ASHLEY CATHARINE

“The Poet and the Scientist”

website / tweeter

Ashley Catharine is a body positive, queer spoken word artist with a degree in fashion design with an emphasis on plus size fashion.

Interesting Facts:

+ I was clinically deaf as a child, couldn’t go swimming and became obsessed with mermaids. When I came out years later, I got one tattooed!

+ There were 43 kids in my high school graduating class (which was torture)

+ I was a cast member on season 3 of TVOne’s “Verses and Flow”.

[more]

GABI

“Wilder Hungers”

website

Gabi is a native Floridian who moved to New York City for culinary school in her journey to becoming a domestic goddess. A native sun child, she worships Stevie Nicks, wears shawls frequently (even in winter) and still has an affinity for tie-dye. She loves cooking, eating, and writing about food and can usually be found taking entirely too long at the grocery store planning her next dinner party. When she’s not eating or pondering her next meal, Gabi can be found……probably sleeping because she doesn’t do much else when she’s awake. No but in all seriousness she does have other hobbies. Like watching Top Chef marathons. While she is currently pursuing a writing career, in her next life she would like to move to the county, raise chickens, and run the town bakery in Birkenstocks

Interesting Facts:

+ I’m 23 years old and don’t have a driver’s license, nor do I ever want one. In Florida this made me very weird but in New York I’m not alone! Pedestrian for life.

+ I know the words to every Carpenter’s song, own a lot of mumus, and would rather be watching TV marathons than going out 99.9% of the time. Love your internal granny. Cherish her.

+ My girlfriend and I started dating because she saw me at a bar and handcuffed herself to me. Bold.

[more]

CHELSEA

“High Femme”

website / tumblr / tweeter

Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. She graduated from Stanford University with a double major in Communication and Being Maureen from RENT. She currently lives in sunny Los Angeles, where she works as a screenwriter/blogger/tutor/pop culture geek. She’s obsessed with dachshunds, the Whedonverse, and roller derby, esp. her sisters at Angel City Derby Girls. Her skate name is Challahback Girl, and she runs the barely popular Tumblr, Derby Girl Problems. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her. She can often be found in pajamas, clutching an empty Diet Coke can, and using her beloved pup Cookie as a pillow.

Interesting Facts:

+ I have a tattoo on the inside of my left wrist that reads “Mother, Daughter, Sister” in Hebrew. My mother and my sister have the same tattoos; we got them together on my mom’s 63rd birthday in Tel Aviv.

+ When I was a kid I was obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which led me to get my first degree black belt in Judo.

+ I have a New Zealand passport, so in case America implodes I have an escape plan.

[more]

VIVIAN

“Queered Science”

Vivian lives in Denver, Colorado, mostly so she can be as close to the mountains as possible and still have some semblance of a queer community. She works as a hydrologist in Rocky Mountain National Park for her paid job, but really spends most of her time thinking about queerness, feminism, modes of oppression, and radical pacifism, and how to combine them all together in one happy slop of world-changing goodness. From the time she can remember, she’s been knocking words around in her head and, being an introvert, the written word is still by far her favorite mode of communication. She loves mountain climbing, biking, backcountry skiing, and generally being outside as much as possible.

Interesting Facts:

+ My car just got stolen! I know that’s not really a random fact but as you might imagine it’s totally on my mind and so there it is.

+ I’ve had four concussions over my life span, which I think means I should be wearing a helmet every minute of every day now…I don’t, though.

+ I was raised in the Quaker church, like Quaker Oats and William Penn, and I think that informs my worldview more than I usually realize.

[more]

MAGGIE

“Dear Queer Diary”

tweeter

Maggie is a freckly, punctuation-loving queer living in the Boston area. She supports her book-buying and tea-drinking habits by teaching America’s youth how to write topic sentences, and spends her free time perusing wedding blogs and doing arts and crafts. She is the proud owner of a t-shirt emblazoned with the word “feminist,” which she likes to wear in public places, and she interns for the VIDA Count, tracking the gender disparities in the numbers of authors reviewed by major literary publications. Other hobbies include researching graduate programs for which she may or may not ever apply, making sandwiches for her girlfriend, and, of course, journaling. A longtime postcard writer and devoted penpal, her life ambition is to personally save the U.S. Postal Service.

Interesting Facts:

+ I attended a Montessori school until sixth grade, an experience which nurtured in me a radical sensibility and a fondness for using an abacus.

+ My photo appeared in the 2008 Prom Edition of Seventeen magazine.

+ During my collegiate career as a props master, I once fire-proofed thousands of fabric rose petals for a production of Sweeney Todd.

[more]

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!