Frequency is very happy to welcome two new volunteer staff-people to the team: our new Programming Coordinator, Christena Carollo and our Writer in Residence, Craig Demi. Christena will help organize our class calendar, working closely with current and new instructors, while Craig will build on the work of our previous Artistic Director by cultivating strong partnerships between Frequency and other individuals and organizations in and around Providence, helping us serve the community and grow. Read on to learn more about each of them.

Christena Carollo is a Florida native who moved to the Ocean State two years ago to experience the seasons and New England’s undeniable charm. She is a graduate of the University of Florida and studied journalism with an outside concentration in creative writing. By day, Christena works as a marketing associate for Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, a non-profit in Providence that provides services for immigrants and refugees in the community, and by night, she devotes her time to family, her dog Rosie, her cat Shia, sporadic episodes of writing and painting, and watching Netflix. She enjoys traveling, collecting books (more than she can even keep up with), meeting new people, and discovering new vegetarian-friendly restaurants. Christena is a Frequency Writers alumna and is passionate about fiction writing and connecting with those who love the craft. She aspires to one day work in the publishing industry.   

Craig Demi has called Providence his home for over a decade. He is a graduate of Bennington College, where he had the great fortune to study creative writing under the guidance of writers such as April Bernard and Mary Oliver. He has been a baker, a flower delivery driver, and a stable mucker, and currently is the Director of Operations at Southside Community Land Trust. Craig served as student editor of the Wildwood Journal. He is a Frequency Writers alumnus and has been a member of the HiFi Collaborative—Rhode Island’s historical fiction writers’ group. He also received the honor of being named for a 2016 Fellowship Award in fiction by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. His writing has appeared in American Fiction 17 published by New Rivers Press (2019), and Meat for Tea; The Valley Review and Missing Providence; A Frequency Anthology.