CONTRIBUTOR BIOS

Issue 01 / Fall 2025

Kali Abel is a writer, political ecologist, and professor at the University of Portland where she studies climate change adaptation. She calls both Portland, Oregon, and Jardin, Colombia, home. They both have excellent coffee and even better people. Website: kaliabel.substack.com / Instagram: @kali_abel

David Anderson lives in Washington, DC, with his wife. Before retiring, he edited the main research dissemination vehicles for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and wrote on public health and medicine for many national and international publications and organizations.

Marcher Arrant is an all-out walker who wanders in the margins, leaving marks of his poetry wherever passing. After studying art and philosophy in Colorado, USA, he began his life's work: walking the earth, searching, and never finding. Website: themarcherarrant.com / Instagram: @marcherarrant

Nini Berndt is a graduate of the MFA program in Fiction at the University of Florida and the author of the novel There Are Reasons for This. Her work has appeared in One Story, The Southampton Review, Subtropics, Split Lip, Adroit, Passages North, and elsewhere. She teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, where she lives with her wife and son. Website: niniberndt.com / Instagram: @neenjb

Finn Brown's (they/ them) writing lives in publications including Queer Life, Queer Love 2 (Muswell Press), The Raven Review, Booth Journal, Annie Journal, Meniscus Journal, The Bombay Review, The Bittersweet Review, and Snowflake Magazine. They are editor at queer press t'ART. Instagram: @finnlbrown / Bluesky: @finnbrown.bsky.social

Marsha Burger studied Fine Arts at Rutgers University.  She's also taken classes at the Art Students League in NYC and McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville.  She resides in Charlottesville, Virginia with her husband, Jon, and cat, Po.

Peyton Burgess is the author of The Fry Pans Aren't Sufficing. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, Tin House online, New Orleans Review, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, AUTRE, and Joyland Magazine, among others.

June Chua used to read stories out loud to her little sister when her family lived in Malaysia. Eventually, they moved to the Canadian prairies, first living in a trailer!  This passion for the written word has translated into a career in journalism, filmmaking, and communications. She resides in Berlin and is currently working on a prose-poem collection supported by a literary grant. Website: junechua.com / Instagram: @re.juneration

Maureen Clark's This Insatiable August was released by Signature Books and received Best Poetry Book of 2024 from AML. Her memoir Falling into Bountiful: Confessions of a Once Upon a Time Mormon is forthcoming by Hypatia Press. A Country Without You is forthcoming from BCC Press in 2028. Instagram: @Maureen.clark.7524

Marvin Cohen (1931–2025) was a prolific novelist, poet, playwright, and humorist. He was the author of numerous books, and his shorter work appeared in more than 80 publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Nation, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Fiction, and The Hudson Review. Cohen also taught creative writing at several New York City colleges.

Holly Coleman holds an M.A. in English from the University of North Florida and is a Ph.D. student at Old Dominion University. Her work has appeared in On The Rag, Petit Mort Magazine, The Raven Review, and elsewhere. Instagram: @hollycaroline

Richard Collins has taught at universities in the U.S., Wales, Romania, and Bulgaria. His books include No Fear Zen (Hohm Press, 2015), In Search of the Hermaphrodite: A Memoir (Tough Poets Press, 2024), and two forthcoming poetry collections: Stone Nest and Cartoons for the Chaos (both by Shanti Arts). He lives in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Joseph Cooper is the author of six collections, most recently Splash Fields (VA Press, 2024). His latest collection, The Thief of Mars, is forthcoming from Carbonation Press in the fall of 2025. He lives in Lewisburg, WV, with his wife, three children, two dogs, six cats, and three chickens.

Emily Coppella (she/her) lives on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. Her poetry has been published in several international literary magazines. Instagram: @emilycoppella

Will Cordeiro is the author of Trap Street and Whispering Gallery and co-author of Experimental Writing: A Writer's Guide and Anthology. Will co-edits Eggtooth Editions. Will's been published in 32 Poems, AGNI, Bennington Review, Pleiades, and The Threepenny Review. 

Megan Davis is an actress and poet living in New York. Her debut best-selling poetry book, What Breaks Us, has won several awards, and has been celebrated by critics, including a Kirkus review comparing her work to Sylvia Plath. Instagram: @meggydavis

Charles Day, Brooklyn-born writer, began crafting stories in 2019 through NYPL and Reading Room workshops. His work spans short fiction and theater, with The Floating Violin featured on Guardianes de la Memoria podcast. He studied at The Barrow Group, debuted Rise and Shine at Snap, and staged his short play Side Effects at the 2025 Social Justice Shorts Festival. Instagram: @adayatthetheater

Sarah Rose de Souza has written for Ambit, Berfrois, 3:AM Magazine and Porridge. She worked in publishing for five years, commissioning fiction for Hachette UK and Atlantic. She lives in Mexico City where she edits novels and teaches creative writing. Instagram: @sarahrosedesouza

Jaydn DeWald is the author of The Rosebud Variations and Sheets of Sound, both from Broken Sleep Books. They direct the Creative Writing Program at Piedmont University.

Brian Engles is a writer and musician from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He was a reporter for Cape & Islands NPR before moving to Chicago. His novel Wildball earned coverage in the Boston Globe. He releases original music as Racing Days. Instagram: @brian.engles

Corwin Ericson is the author of the novel Swell, and the collection Checked Out OK. His work has been published in Harper's, Jubilat, Volt, Sortes, Galaxy Brain, and elsewhere. Instagram: @corwin.ericson

Rachel Desiree Felix is a Malaysian writer based in South Korea. Her work explores cultural dissonance, memory, and quiet resistance, often shaped by the tension between visibility and erasure in cross-cultural spaces. Instagram: @racheldesiree

Nicholas Fillmore is the author of Smuggler, an IndieReader Discovery Award-winning memoir; The Gospel of Satan, a novella; and Sins of Our Fathers, a novel. Allocution, poems, will be published by Tough Poets Press in 2026. Website: nicholasfillmore.com 

Jefferson Fortner is a community college English Professor living in North Carolina.  He has recently had work published by Neologism Poetry Journal and by The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He has lived in North Carolina all his life, but is thinking about running away from home.

Barry Foy is the author of Field Guide to the Irish Music Session and The Devil's Food Dictionary: A Pioneering Culinary Reference Work Consisting Entirely of Lies. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Justin Gradin is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, sound, animation, video, performance and writing. He has released a volume of poetry, Brainwashing the Dirty Mind, and has two graphic novels, Mystic Debris and Pageant, published with Fantagraphics books. Instagram: @justingradin

Samina Hadi-Tabassum was born in Hyderabad, India, and immigrated to Chicago with her family in the early 1970s. Her first book of poems, Muslim Melancholia (2017), was published by Red Mountain Press. She has also won awards for her short stories and essays. Website: saminahaditabassum.com

Erin Heney, a North Carolina multimedia artist, blends her passions for cultural arts and community service. A recent high school graduate, she's pursuing architecture at Appalachian State University. Instagram: @TaiyozDreamz

Juleigh Howard-Hobson's work has appeared in Rock and a Hard Place, Dead Housekeeping, Low Life, Going Down Swinging, Punk (Kissing Dynamite), Under Her Skin (Black Spot), and other nefarious and not so nefarious venues. X: @poetforest / Bluesky: @juleigh.bsky.social

Colin James has a couple of chapbooks of poetry published—Dreams Of The Really Annoying from Writing Knights Press and A Thoroughness Not Deprived of Absurdity from Piski's Porch Press—and a book of poems, Resisting Probability, from Sagging Meniscus Press. He lives in Massachusetts.

Robert Kinerk writes poetry at his home in Cambridge, MA, sited midway between Longfellow's house and Longfellow's grave. Kinerk grew up in Ketchikan, Alaska, where he worked as a logger, disc jockey, and in his father's grocery store. Website: robertkinerk.com

Aaron Lelito is a writer and editor from Buffalo, NY. His micro-chapbook, Secret Meetings, was published by Ghost City Press in 2025, and his poetry collection, The Half Turn, was published in 2023. His work has appeared in Sage Magazine, Door Is A Jar, Stonecoast Review, Barzakh, SPECTRA Poets, and Santa Fe Review. He is EIC of Wild Roof Journal. Instagram: @aaronlelito / Bluesky: @aaronlelito.bsky.social

LindaAnn LoSchiavo, a native New Yorker, is a member of BFS, HWA, SFPA, and The Dramatists Guild. Released three titles in 2024: Always Haunted: Hallowe'en Poems, Apprenticed to the Night, and Felones de Se: Poems About Suicide. Forthcoming: Cancer Courts My Mother and Vampire Verses. Accolades: Elgin Award, Chrysalis BREW Project Awards, The World's Best Magazine's Book of Excellence Award, and Spotlyts Story Award. Bluesky: @ghostlyverse.bsky.social / X: @Mae_Westside

Vanessa Matic is a multi-talented artist, and curator and host of Agape Lodge Poetry Society. You will find her work in Romance & Revolution, issued by Tough Poets Press, and again in American Dreams in Havoc Heaven, from Hat & Beard Press. Instagram: @miamatixx

Maisie May is a passionate pencil artist inspired by various themes such as portraiture, social issues, anime and street photography. From childhood wall doodles to sketching stick figures and watching Art Attack, her love for art bloomed early. Featured in Threads of Home, she celebrates African heritage and identity, while cherishing meaningful connections with art enthusiasts and creative souls. Instagram: @maisie_m.arts

Bruce McRae, a Canadian musician, is a multiple Pushcart nominee with poems published in hundreds of magazines such as Poetry, Rattle and the North American Review. The winner of the 2020 Libretto prize and author of four poetry collections and seven chapbooks, his next book, Boxing In The Bone Orchard, came out in the Spring of 2025 via Frontenac House.

Elinor Nauen's books include American Guys, So Late into the Night, Snowbound, My Marriage A to Z, CARS (forthcoming 2025), and several others. Her poetry has been widely published in magazines and anthologies. She grew up in South Dakota and currently lives in Manhattan's East Village. Website: ElinorNauen.com

Martina Reisz Newberry has been writing poetry for 50-plus years. Her most recent book is Sadie: Queen of the Swollen Nose Saloon (Alien Buddha Press 4/15/25). She is also the author of Beyond Temples (Deerbrook Edition, 5/24) and several other poetry collections.

Per Olvmyr is a writer of fiction, prose, and poetry. He lives in Malmö, Sweden, and has been published by literary magazines such as Poetry Wales, Bombay Literary Magazine, Gone lawn, Glänta, Takahē and Propagule magazine. He can often be found in parks engaged in long conversations with basset hounds. Website: substack.com/@perolvmyr

Magdalen Papa is a Queens-based, self-taught artist and teacher. Her work ranges from doodles to community murals and scenic painting. Her oil paintings were recently displayed at the Warwick Center for the Arts.

Larry Parker is a soul centered poet residing in Manhattan (Lenape Territory). He began writing in the late '70s and has recited at multiple venues in NYC, including the African Poetry Theatre, New York Writer's Circle, and Mary O's. He has also recited on several WHCR FM radio broadcasts. Larry's poetry centers on spiritual resistance, sacred memory, and liberation. Instagram: @larryparker690

Marie-Louise Plum is an artist, writer and poet, b.1981, living in London. Her work focuses on the natural world, unusual landscapes, belonging, identity, and the space between reality and dreams. Instagram: @marielouiseplum

David Preizler's fiction has appeared in Santa Monica Review, The Madison Review, Faultline, and elsewhere. Originally from the Midwest, he lives in California.

David Salner has worked as iron ore miner, steelworker, baseball usher, librarian and in many other trades. His latest poetry collections are The Green Vault Heist and Summer Words: New and Selected Poems. His prizewinning novel is A Place to Hide. More of his poetry appears in magazines such as Muleskinner Review, North American Review, Ploughshares, and Hamilton Stone Review. Website: dsalner.wixsite.com/salner

Neal Allen Shipley (he/him) is a poet in Colorado with an unhinged collection of plants. His writing can be found in The Talon Review, SCAB Magazine, South Broadway Ghost Society, and others. Instagram: @nealio9

Mark Simpson's work has appeared in a number of magazines. He is the author of Fat Chance (Finishing Line) and The Quieting (Pine Row Press). He has a Ph.D. in rhetoric and writing and currently tends several acres of forest, fruit, and vegetables. Current residence: Whidbey Island, Washington.

Abhishek Kumar Singh is a multilingual poet and writer from India working in English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, and Magahi. His lyrical, abstract work explores identity, memory, and the human experience. His poetry has appeared in Friday Night Library, Poetry Nation, Life in a Limbo, Suburban Witchcraft, Maudlin House, and Epiphany Anthology. Instagram: @abhishek_singh_678

J. D. Smith's seventh poetry collection, The Place That Is Coming to Us, will be published in September by Broadstone Books. Smith lives and works in Washington, DC. Website: jdsmithwriter.com / Bluesky: @smitroverse.bsky.social / X: @Smitroverse

Willow Sommer is a writer and poet based in Amsterdam, where she hosts cultural events exploring the relationship between agency and identity. She is writing a novel inspired by nightlife, and in between, like dancing, poetry has become an outlet to express difficult emotions, and to weave sense out of life's layers. Website: willowsommer.com / Instagram: @willlowsommmer

Amy Soricelli has been published in numerous publications, including The Westchester Review, Pure Slush, and Glimpse Poetry Magazine. Amy has three chapbooks published by Dancing Girl Press (2019, 2021, 2024) and one coming in Spring 2026. Twice nominated for BOTN and once for a Pushcart. Nominated by Billy Collins for the Aspen Words Emerging Writers Fellowship/2019, Grace C. Croff Poetry Award, 1978. Instagram: @poetamy7

Johnny Stanton was born in Manhattan and has never lived anywhere else. His Siamese Banana Press published Paul Auster, Joe Brainard, and many other influential writers and artists of the 1960s and '70s. He is the author of many short stories and the novel Mangled Hands, published in 1985 by Sun & Moon and republished 2021 by Tough Poets Press.

Aden Thomas has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and published in The Red River Review, San Pedro Review, Third Wednesday, and The Yellow Chair Review.  His first book of poems, What Those Light Years Carry, was published in 2017. Instagram: @sagebrushpoet

Kevin Tosca has been published in a wide range of literary magazines as well as in seventeen limited-edition chapbooks with ten different independent presses. In 2023, he founded Sacred Parasite. He lives in Berlin. Website: sacredparasite.com

John Tottenham is the author of four volumes of poetry. He is also a prolific essayist, artist and performer whose work has been described as "magnanimous misanthropy" and "magical cynicism." His first novel, Service, was published this year by Semiotext(e). He is not married and doesn't own a dog. He lives in Los Angeles. Website: johntottenham.com / Instagram: @johntottenham

Edwin Vásquez is a multidisciplinary artist whose bold photography, poetry, and mixed-media work explore human nature and the environment. His art has shown internationally and across California, including MOAH and Brand 48, where he won the Associate's Award. He is currently developing #TheJoshuaTreeChronicles, an ongoing creative project.

Wendy Walker is the author of The Secret Service (Tough Poets) and other books, most recently Sexual Stealing (Temporary Culture). In 2024 she helped the actor and director Paul Sand to rewrite his play The Pilot Who Crashed the Party. It will open in London next year. Website: wendywalker.com

Omar Zefier is an artist, sound designer, director, and writer from Fort Worth, Texas. He is currently working toward the release of his debut poetry collection. Primarily known as an artist, he has had art published in previous publications. Instagram: @polarboiyeahz