Frances McCue, Founder + Editor
Frances McCue, a literary activist, arts instigator, poet and writer, serves as the Editor of Pulley Press. Other start-ups that McCue has instigated or implemented include her work as the co-founder and founding director of Richard Hugo House where McCue brought the organization, now the largest literary center in the west, from start-up to stability in its first decade.
She also instigated, with a group of undergraduates, the Poetry Brigade, a student-faculty-community collective to promote reading and writing poetry at the University of Washington and she was the co-writer, co-producer and instigator of Where the House Was, a feature-length poetry documentary about gentrification, loss, and one old building in Seattle.
McCue is an award-winning poet and prose writer who has published four books of poetry and two of prose and she is currently a Teaching Professor in the English Department at the University of Washington. In 2018, she won the UW’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest honor for teaching at the University.
Abigail Boyer, Editorial Assistant + Associate Publicist
Abigail Boyer is a fourth-year student at the University of Washington studying English and Spanish. She was raised in Gainesville, Georgia, a town that’s unfortunately infamous for its status as the (supposed) chicken processing capital of the world. Their interests include magical realism set in the south, queer futurity in fantasy novels, and any kind of writing that feels more hopeful than not. Abigail is the creator of the 2022 Audio Verse Award-winning audio drama Back Again, Back Again, and its prequel, Sword and Spinner. They also work as a journalist for the UW Daily, where they write about music, Mary Oliver, and murders of crows.
Barbara Byrne, Chief Marketing Officer
Barbara Byrne is Chief Marketing Officer for Clyde Hill Publishing and Pulley Press. She is an strategic marketing leader with over 15 years of experience working in publishing, the nonprofit sector, and with private companies. Combining her love of books with her desire to help people, she leads the way in supporting our authors in bringing their books to life, from production and working with our printer, to leading digital marketing plans and building author websites, to getting their books on shelves. She particularly loves helping to elevate the voices of marginalized communities through her work and personal advocacy. When she's not working she enjoys spending her time hiking, reading, learning pottery, and going on outdoor adventures with her family.
Gillian Kimmel, Social Media DIrector
Gillian Kimmel graduated from The University of Vermont with a B.A. in English Literature and Film/Television Studies. She was born and raised in Washington D.C. and has always had a love of reading and creative writing, especially poetry and fiction with a focus on themes of coming of age set in rural spaces. In her free time, she DJs at a local radio station in Vermont, and experiments with photography and creating short films. Her past works include the publication of a poem and a painting in the Gist, UVM’s Literary Magazine, as well as two original stories published on Vermont Public Radio from her time as a journalist.
Dan D Shafer
Dan D Shafer is a Seattle-based graphic designer, artist, and educator. He owns Dandy Co., a graphic design studio specializing in book design, environmental design, and event branding and promotion. Dan also teaches design classes at Cornish College of the Arts. When he is not in front of his keyboard or a classroom, he can often be found turning his compost pile or foraging for wild mushrooms.