Dawn Yackzan, a first-generation American-Lebanese, is a writer, mother, teacher, and activist. Her background includes teaching in public elementary schools, primarily low socio-economic, under-served communities for thirty years. This work led her to found the Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign in 2013, a grassroots program which gained support from local schools, law enforcement, University of California leaders and state politicians. Having moved once a year in her first two decades of life, she discovered different regions and cultures of the United States. These nomadic and diverse cultural experiences, including living as an expat in North Africa at seventeen, have influenced her writings and become prominent subjects in her nonfiction and fiction writing. Since retiring, her projects include her memoir “Precious Crazy” and a young adult novel called “Leap Frog.” An early draft of “Precious Crazy” won a spot at the Community of Writers (in the High Sierra) and was selected as a 2022 finalist in an international book contest in Paris. Dawn and her husband live in Davis, California, and have two adult children.
Kat Miller will return to SOS to read “Out of My Hands” by Dawn Yackzan. A proud member of Actor’s Equity Association, Kat’s professional theatre career began in Northern California. A former company member of the Sacramento Theatre Company, her credits there include Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest, Vicky/Brooke in Noises Off, The Goddess Parvati in Arranged Marriage, Ifigenia in Electricidad, and Padma in Queen of the Remote Control. As a member of the Canadian Actor’s Equity Association, her credits abroad include the role of Tecmessa in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Ajax in Afghanistan and Artemis in The Intuition of Iphigenia by Valina Hasu Houston—both productions were world premieres performed in Greece in 2012. Other favorite shows include Fat Pig, Much Ado About Nothing(Capital Stage), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Taming of The Shrew, and Othello (Sacramento Shakespeare Festival). Katherine also has local and national commercial credits.
David Masiel lives, writes, and teaches in Davis. A graduate of the UC Davis creative writing program, Masiel has taught in the English Department and University Writing Program over the past two decades, teaching courses in fiction, creative nonfiction, journalism, and professional editing. Between 2011-2019, he served as editor of Writing on the Edge, a UC Davis journal on writing and teaching writing, co-editing the journal’s collected interviews with writing scholars, Teachers on the Edge: The WOE Interviews (Routledge). His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Outside Magazine, and The Washington Post. He has published two novels: 2182 Kilohertz (Random House 2002), a New York Times Notable Book that year, and The Western Limit of the World (Random House 2005).
Matt K. Miller will read “The Last to See Her” by David Masiel. Matt has appeared in over forty productions at Sacramento Theatre Company including The Tempest, Othello, Julius Caesar, The Grapes of Wrath, Amadeus, Tartuffe, Of Mice and Men, two sold-out runs of Fully Committed and several years as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. He was appointed Artistic Director in 2010. Other Northern California credits: numerous roles at Capital Stage Company, B Street Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Lucky Penny Productions, Davis Shakespeare Festival, and the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. Elsewhere, credits extend nationally and internationally, including the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain’s An Enemy of the People with Sir Ian McKellen. TV: General Hospital, Courthouse, Off Centre, 13 Reasons Why and star of the Cartoon Network’s anime series Tenchi-Muyo!; Film: Gods and Generals, Stolen Moments, Women is Losers; Voice Over: dozens of titles—including taking over for Robin Williams as Batty in FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue. More can be found at imdb.com/name/nm0588929/.