Shawna is a Los Angeles based writer who has authored memoirs, non-fiction books, literary essays, newspaper articles, and magazine articles. She is primarily interested in art, music, pop culture, subculture, nature, animals, activism, health & wellness, and marginalized populations. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Playboy, Vice, Narratively, The Rumpus, Bust, and Salon. She has a degree in Communications from The American University in Washington, DC, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, but started her writing career by self-publishing fanzines in the Washington D.C. punk scene. She is a bicycle enthusiast in a city full of cars.