I'm Sabrina Scanlan,
a writer, poet, educator, & editorial consultant.
about
I am a creative person at heart, and I believe that life can be made more meaningful by commemorating it with the right words. Whether it's the perfect phrasing to tell a story, or the exact sonic syntax that explodes within a poem, writing is my calling, across all genres and occasions.
I believe that the written word is a essential outlet for the human experience. When we connect to the words that lie within us, we can lead lives with joy, empathy, and inquisitiveness, and we can connect to other human beings in earnest. I believe that we enrich our lives and our relationships with others when we tap well-spring of written language. Throughout my career as an ESL-program assistant director, writing instructor, copyeditor, and writer, I have made it my life's mission to educate and endow others with an appreciation for sharp and engaging written-communication in all its forms.
"For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence."
- Audre Lorde
my writing
I write poems, personal essays, and short stories that embody my creative connection to myself and to others.
My writing often focuses on the difficult topics of grief, motherhood, womanhood, and anxiety as a way to express the challenges of life. I craft my works to capture the ineffable and convert them to the conveyable, explicating the emotional tissue that is part of our core experience as human beings.
why "scandal press"?
Though I have been a poet all of my life, I decided to put my poetry on Instagram in 2019. In my past, as a writer, I have struggled to put my work into the world without fear of the consequences (because as an artist, there are always consequences).
I chose the name "scandal press" because I want to be a publisher of works that are unafraid. I want to write (and share writing) that challenges the status quo of the world. I write from the perspective of a first-generation Puerto Rican woman who never learned to speak Spanish, and along with the many other intersections of my identity (including "mother"), I am not the kind of writer that the American-public and intelligentsia want writing.
Because I write and seek writing that causes a "scandal," I donned my writing project "scandal press."
writing credits
- letter to a baby asthmatic | "Letters to My Younger Self" Exhibition presented by Art on the Ave (April 2024)
- chainsaw | Writers' Hour Magazine - London Writers' Salon (October 2024)
- an elegy on breastfeeding | WILDSound Writing Festival (November 2024)
- four-year anniversary | Tales from the Kitchen Anthology - The Writer's Workout (December 2024)
"Hope is a catalyst for writing. Poetry is a language of hope."
- Byung - Chul Han
consultations for editing, revision, & facilitation
With over a decade of experience as an academic administrator, writing professor, and freelance copywriter for corporate clients, I offer editorial and revision services for writers and organizations seeking macro and micro-level feedback on written projects. Whether you're in need of a precise read for sentence-level structure, or you're looking for top-level feedback on how an essay reads for organization and flow, I am currently open for collaborative consultation for written projects across all genres. I also offer sliding-scale and free consultations for writers from underserved backgrounds, so please reach out if you're in need.
I am also available to facilitate writing workshops or tutorials across genres, including poetry, academic writing, professional writing, technical writing, reading comprehension & vocabulary building, grammar, and more.
currently offering revision & editorial consultation services for:
- proposals pitches (epistolary and deck)
- research papers
- technical manuals
- email newsletters
- website copy
- product copy
- promotional copy (print/social)
- brand stories
- personal essays
- short stories
- poems
- administrative & project management logistics
- and more