Leanne Phillips is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Kelp Journal, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Rumpus, Persimmon Tree, The Coachella Review, and GXRL. She is also a certified book coach, an editor, and the Fiction Editor for Kelp Journal. She is a voting member of the National Book Critics Circle.

Leanne earned her MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts (fiction/creative nonfiction) from the University of California at Riverside, Palm Desert. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in history, from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She earned her book coaching certification through Author Accelerator. She also earned a Copyediting Certificate from the University of California at San Diego Extension.

Leanne was at various times the Multimedia Editor, Books Editor, Lead Copyeditor, and Social Media Manager for The Coachella Review. She is a former Fiction and Poetry Editor for Byzantium and a former Books Editor for GXRL. She is a lifelong Californian currently based on the Central Coast. She is a feminist, historian, amateur photographer, and beachcomber. She has an affinity for books, movies, live music, and U.S. and California history. She has worked as a paralegal, music promoter, beerista, and website developer. Her volunteer work includes volunteering with the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and as a certified sexual assault and intimate partner violence crisis counselor for Lumina Alliance (formerly RISE).