About Our Moderators

A Note about our Moderators:

Pen Parentis founder M. M. De Voe and Salons curator Christina Chiu met as graduate students at Columbia’s MFA program, and have remained lifelong friends through children, writing careers, and co-hosting Salons. Come join the fun! You don’t have to be a parent or even a writer to enjoy these events – all lovers of the written word are welcome to join us!

Click here to get Christina’s award-winning novel, Beauty! (a Kirkus 2020 Best Book of the Year!) This novel, set in a world of high-fashion NYC, features themes of Asian-American female identity, focusing on the deep question of where female power lies, and who controls the use of those powers.

Click here to get Book & Baby, M. M.’s guide for writer-parents — which is also a book about founding Pen Parentis. It won first prize at the 2021 Indie Book Awards for writing/publishing. It is filled with advice and tricks learned at Pen Parentis Salons about getting your novel written. Midwest Book Review called it “a mandatory read” for all writers who have kids of any age!