Michaela Spangenburg

Michaela is an English, Psychology and Anthropology major at Sonoma State University, specializing in both literature and creative writing. She has been a creative writer all her life, specializing mainly in poetry and short stories and has been published in literary magazines like Zaum, where she was recently chosen as Art Editor. Her poetry also made the final cut in the Franklin Christoph Poetry Contest in 2005. She has a strong interest in writing literary criticism and film theory for the masses and encouraging people to think and feel deeply about what they read, watch and listen to.

Michaela pursues other creative arts like painting, music, dancing, sculpting and drawing, but one of her greatest and largely unexplored passions is directing films. She also designs and sews her own fashions, quilts, weaves, crochets and does crossstich. In addition to this she is a vegetarian and enjoys cooking immensely. She has worked in various occupations, including a stint as a farm laborer and has loved animals all her life, especially cats.

Michaela formerly wrote news articles for the monthly political newspaper Socialist Action and has published an article at The Witches Voice. She has been a practitioner of Asatru (a prechristian, pagan northern european religion) for roughly ten years. She has been ordained by both the Universal Life Church and The Church of Spiritual Humanism and has been awarded a Doctor of Divinity. She is a long time practitioner of rune divination.

Michaela is active in Socialist politics, the anti-war movement, the LGBT movement and the fight for equality for all people, regardless of race, religion, gender or orientation. As a person of multiracial background (Filipina, Irish, Native American, Black, Jewish, Swiss, German and Italian) and of bisexual sexual orientation, she has been directly affected by many of these issues herself. To Michaela, the intelligent and critical examination of the media is completely necessary to promoting equality.

Michaela is also a vegetarian and promotes the fair treatment of animals. Her vegetarian lifestyle, while primarily an ethical decision, was also influence by her diagnosis with thyroid disease, for which she takes the desiccated thyroid pill Nature-throid. She also has experience with severe kidney problems which she inherited from her father, Pastor Robert Spangenburg, a Vietnam veteran and Filipino Veterans Rights Activist who attributed his health problems with chemicals he was exposed to in Vietnam.

Michaela enjoys receiving messages from readers, so please feel free to contact her with your comments, thoughts and ideas by clicking the button on the right hand side that reads "Contact Me".