About Rylan

Rylan Hynes (they/them) is the Communications & Editorial Director at The Telling Room in Portland, ME. Rylan studied creative writing, theatre, and visual art at College of the Atlantic.

A writer and consummate bookworm, Rylan has worked with independent bookstores and publishing houses across the country, including Chicago’s Women & Children First and Alice James Books. In 2020 Rylan was awarded a Martin Dibner Fellowship by the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance (MWPA) and the Maine Community Foundation to attend the Harvest Writers Retreat for fiction. In 2022, Rylan received a Lit Fest Fellowship from MWPA and helped facilitate the inaugural Maine Lit Fest. Rylan and excerpts from their novel Grafting were recently a finalist for the 2024 Maine Chapbook Series, Tin House’s 2024 Trans Writers Residency, and longlisted for The Masters Review's 2023 Novel Excerpt Contest. In 2024, Rylan was a writer-in-residence at Monson Arts, developing their novel Grafting, and they will be a member of the upcoming 2025 Tin House Winter Online Workshop.

Currently Rylan serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. When they aren't busy writing, Rylan enjoys spending time with their spouse, making art, and gardening.