Via Justine De Fant
Project Manager and Managing Editor| Freelance Writer
Via Justine De Fant is the Textbook Project Manager and Managing Editor at the University of Guam Press. As part of a close-knit team of six colleagues, she helps expand the reach of Micronesian literature and create platforms for Pasifika voices to engage with a global audience. Via received her B.A. (2018) and M.A. (2020) in Literature at UOG. Passionate about the power of stories and the act of storytelling, she co-directed One Kind Word, a documentary about suicide prevention and manages the Remembering Billie Suicide Prevention Project, which encourages the use of stories, journals, and art for intentional expression. Her professional aspirations do not deviate far from her personal passions. Via is an emerging Filipina writer whose writing explore themes of identity, adulthood, language, and connection. Her poetry can be found in in Dead Peasant, Micronesian Educator, Portland Review, and Plumwood Mountain Journal.
Experience
University of Guam Press – Textbook Project Manager and Managing Editor
06/2026 – Current
- Manages the development and execution of place-based social studies textbooks and resources to be used in Guam Department of Education K-12 classrooms.
University of Guam Press – Publicist and Project Manager
07/2021 – 06/2026
- Managed a creative marketing and visual team to develop data-driven strategies, book launches, and community literacy projects for UOG and collaborated with local and global partners to expand the distribution and accessibility of regional literature.
Guam Legislature – Research Analyst
02/2021 – 07/2021
- Analyzed and synthesized research results to present findings to a senatorial team forecommended amendments or legislation based on research findings and community needs.
Department of English and Applied Linguistics – Teaching Assistant / Writing Center Tutor
12/2016 – 12/2020
- Peer-reviewed undergraduate and graduate students research and writing and organized and conducted workshops for formatting, organization, and thesis statement formation.
Guma’ Mami, Inc. A Non-Profit Organization – Poetry Instructor
11/2018 – 05/2019
- Created curriculum for a 5 week poetry workshop for adults with disabilities, and reviewed and edited poetry and photography submissions in preparation for a gallery exhibit at the Guam Museum
Conferences and Panels
- 2027: Presenter. Dialogo. “For the Children of Aswang: Reimagining Mythology as a Tool for Resistance.” Accepted for presentation at the 2027 International Philippine Studies Conference.
- 2026: Panelist. Association of University Presses. “Mission Improbable: Navigating the Dual Mandate of the Press and the University.”
- 2025: Panlist. Association of University Presses. “Small Press, Major Impact: Developing Meaningful and Efficient Strategies for Small Press Success.”
- 2025: Speaker. Association of University Presses – EJIB Committee. “Making Accessibility Accessible.”
- 2024: Panelist. I Pinangon Annual Suicide Prevention Forum: Empathy and Compassion for Suicide Prevention.
- 2024: Panelist. Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center GoPEACE Conference. “Transformative prevention: adapting strategies in a shifting cultural landscape.”
- 2023. Panelist and Chair. Association of University Presses. “The Value of Community Based Publishing.”
- 2022. Presenter. GDOE School Librarians’ Conference.“The University of Guam Press: Xpanding the Xperience and Paving Pathways for Partnership”
- 2020. Presenter. Sigma Tau Delta International Convention (deferred due to COVID-19)”Demonizing the Hegemonic Culture of 18th Century Colombia.”
- 2019. Panelist. Annual Language Arts Conference. “Ethical Concerns & Critical Thinking Issues From the Perspective of the D.E.A.L. Writing Center
- 2019. Panelist. Guma’ Mami Conference.”Do You See Me Now: Exploring Stigma Through the Eyes of Persons with Disabilities conference.”
- 2018. Presenter. Sigma Tau Delta International Convention “The Secrets to Success: Told by an Unsuccessful 20 Year Old.”
- 2018. Panelist. Annual Language Arts Conference. “Navigating Your Way Through College Writing: A Tutor’s Perspective.”
EduCation
Master of Arts: English Literature
University of Guam, Fall 2020
Graduate Student Award Nominee
Bachelor of Arts: English Literature
Writing Minor
University of Guam, Spring 2018
Magna Cum Laude
Freelance Work
Project Management and Grant Writing
2025: Mellon Foundation Public Knowledge Grant Manager: Navigating Best Approaches and Practices for a Digital Publishing Program in Micronesia
2025: Production Manager: Just One Kind Word: A Suicide Prevention Documentary; (Premier: May 2025)
2024: Northern Marianas Humanities Council Community Grant Manager: Laguas Yan Gåni Writers Project
2022: Poetry Foundation Equity in Verse Grant Manager: Famalao’an Poets Project
2021 – 2024: SAMHSA Subgrants administered by Guam Behavior Health and Wellness Center’s Focus on Life Program:
° Your Art Matters Art Contest
° September Suicide Prevention Activities
° Remembering Billie Suicide Prevention Project
2022: Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency Grant Manager: Pictures that Tell A Story Exhibit and Workshop Series
All grant listed were written in partnership with UOG Press.
Editor:
BWTC Podcast Plays
Writer:
Guam Telephone Authority Knowledge Base (completed – 2024)
One Kind Word: A Suicide Prevention Documentary (2025 – in progress)
BWTC Podcast Plays Script (2025 – in progress)
Workshop Facilitator:
Guma Mami’ Poetry Instructor
YEG Eco-Poetry Instructor
GET IN TOUCH
Publications
- 2025: Pacific Asia Inquiry. “Mapping the Monstrous: An Exploration of the Aswang’s Evolution Across Digital and Diasporic Borders.” In Review for Issue XVI.
- 2023: Portland Review. “A Daughter of Diaspora Comes Home.”
- 2023: Plumwood Mountain Journal, Vol. 10 No. 1. “Inang-Bayan.”
- 2023: Pacific Daily News. “Book Review: The Beginning of Leaving by Elsa Valmidiano.”
- 2022: Dead Peasant, Issue 3. “Termite Fodder,” and “For the Sleepless.”
- 2022: Pacific Daily News. “UOG Press Review: Children of the Stars: Indigenous Science Education in a Reservation Classroom.”
- 2019: Micronesian Educator, Vol. 27. “Hval, Jenny. Paradise Rot: A Novel. Translated by Marjam Idriss, Verso, 2018. E-book. Reviewed by Via Justine De Fant, University of Guam.”
