POETS
Carol Berg’s (Self-Portrait As Burgeoning…) poems are forthcoming or in Crab Creek Review (Poetry Finalist 2017), DMQ Review, Hospital Drive (Contest Runner-Up 2017), Sou’wester, The Journal, Spillway, Redactions, Radar Poetry, and Verse Wisconsin. Her recent chapbook, The Johnson Girls, is available from dancing girl press. She was winner of a scholarship to Poets on the Coast and a recipient of a Finalist’s Grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Hannah Craig (Finding The Body…) lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is the author of This History that Just Happened (Parlor Press, 2017). Her work has recently appeared in journals like Copper Nickel, Occulum, Mississippi Review, and The New England Review of Books.
Mike Good (Audio Contributor) is a poet who lives in Pittsburgh. He has an MFA from Hollins University and is the managing editor of Autumn House Press. Find more at mikegoodwrites.wordpress.com.
Veronica Kornberg (Sea Urchin) is a poet based in the town of Pescadero, on the Central Coast of California. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Tinderbox Poetry Journal , Mom Egg Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Catamaran Literary Reader, Redactions: Poetry and Poetics, New Millennium Writings, and Negative Capability. She is currently at work on her first book of poems.
A graduate of Vassar College, Sharon Kennedy-Nolle (Harder) holds an MFA and doctoral degree from the University of Iowa. In addition to attending the Sarah Lawrence Summer Writing Institute for several years, she was accepted to the Bread Loaf Conferences in both Middlebury and Sicily in 2016 as well as the Sewanee Writers’ Conference this year. This year marks the fourth that she has been honored to be a scholarship participant at the Frost Place Summer Writing Program. This poem is part of a larger collection of elegies, Black Wick, about the death of her son. Her poetry has appeared or is upcoming in apt, Bluestem Magazine, Broad River Review, The Cape Rock, Chaffin Journal, Chicago Quarterly Review, Delmarva Review, The Dickinson Review,Juked, Lindenwood Review, Menacing Hedge, The Midwest Quarterly, OxMag, Pennsylvania English, The Round, Schuylkill Valley Review, Storyscape, Streetlight Magazine, Talking River, Zoned, and Westchester Review, among others, while her dissertation was published as Writing Reconstruction: Race, Gender, and Citizenship in the Postwar South (University of North Carolina Press, 2015). Her chapbook Black Wick was a semi-finalist for the 2018 Tupelo Snowbound Chapbook Contest.
Juliet Lubwama (In This Dream…) is a Ugandan American undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. She served as 2017 National Student Poet for the Northeast, and her writing has been recognized by the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and the National YoungArts Foundation.
Kathryn Merwin’s (Things I Shouldn’t Have Planted…) poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as Cutbank, Quiddity, Sugar House Review, Prairie Schooner, and Blackbird. She has read or reviewed for the Bellingham Review, Poetry Northwest, and The Adroit Journal, and serves as co-editor-in-chief of Milk Journal. She holds an MFA in poetry from Western Washington University and currently lives in the District of Columbia. Connect with her at www.kathrynmerwin.com.
Rainie Oet ((Mother) Sinking, Ripples Out) is a trans woman who writes fiction and poetry for young readers and adults. She is the author of Robin’s Worlds (Astra), Monster Seek (Astra), and Glitch Girl! (Kokila). She received her MFA in Poetry from Syracuse University, where she was awarded the Shirley Jackson Prize in Fiction. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her cat, Skipper.
Varun Ravindran (Schubert’s Moments…) was born in India and presently lives in Pittsburgh. He can be found online at www.varunravindran.com.
Emily Stoddard’s (I was running…, one for sorrow…) writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Rivet, Rust+Moth, New Poetry from the Midwest, Menacing Hedge, Hermeneutic Chaos, Gravel, Cold Mountain Review, and elsewhere. Stoddard leads writing workshops in Michigan and online as an affiliate of Amherst Writers & Artists.
Elizabeth Threadgill (Dispersed) holds an MFA in Poetry and a PhD in Developmental Education-Literacy, both from Texas State University. She grew up in Marfa, Texas, and now lives in upstate New York, where she is an Assistant Professor of English at Utica College. She is the author of Tangled in the Light (Finishing Line Press, 2018). Her poetry also appears in Transom. Her website is elizabeththreadgill.com.
Pepper Trail's (Bridges) poems have appeared in Rattle, Atlanta Review, Spillway, Borderlands, Ascent and other publications, and have been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net Awards. His collection, Cascade-Siskiyou: Poems, was a finalist for the 2016 Oregon Book Award in Poetry. He lives in Ashland, Oregon, where he works as a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Susannah Violette (Blackbird Counts) is an artist, silversmith, musician and poet and lives in the endless forests of Germany with her husband and two daughters. The forest stalks through Susannah’s works, an unavoidable and divine presence. The human experience, especially reflected in nature, is of profound interest to her.
Visual Artists
Celeste Capine Hill (Observation of Energy) is a multidisciplinary artist living Del Rio, Texas. Born and raised on the Texas/ Mexico border, she went to complete her BA in Fashion Design from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. During this time, Hill became interested in mixed media and environmentally conscious art. From there, after living and working in Sedona in Arizona, she moved to Prague, Czech Republic to pursue her MFA in the Studio of Intermedia Art from The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design. Hill has shown internationally in Ireland, Greece, the Czech Republic, and the United States. Her artworks range from paintings to biodegradable sculptures. In May, 2017, Hill held a solo exhibition at Start Up: Prague City Gallery which showcased the immigration issues of the Texas/Mexico border. She is currently working on two upcoming art installations in her studio located in Val Verde County, Texas. Learn more at capinedesign.com.
Sarah Detweiler (House, What Lies Beneath) is a Philadelphia area-based mixed media painter whose most recent works incorporate embroidery with watercolor, gouache and oil paints. She has a BFA from the University of Delaware in Visual Communications and a Masters in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She has exhibited in group and solo shows in various locations including New York City, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Sarah's art centers around themes of feminism, female empowerment, and the human experience. Prints of Sarah's art are available through her Etsy store, SD Artifacts: www.SDArtifacts.etsy.com.
Malissa Goff Baker (An Exercise In Combined Compliments) has been a practicing artist for over 20 years. Her body of work consists mainly of figurative paintings and commissioned portraiture. Recent works include large scale paintings on cut wood that contemplate the plants and animals indigenous to her home state, WV. Malissa studied painting and sculpture at WVU.
Lauren Greathouse (Vik Sands, Below Bruarfoss) was born and raised in the north Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park. She received her BA in English and BFA in Photography from Washington State University in 2003. In 2007, she earned her MFA in Photography from Louisiana State University. After graduation, as the film boom came to the south, Lauren spent 2 years as a still photographer on various film and television sets in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She returned to the northwest in 2009, and shortly after, began teaching for the University of Georgia’s study Abroad program in Cortona, Italy. She has since taught for the program on three other occasions. Her most recent body of work focuses on the changing landscape of the Northwest and was the recipient of a GAP Grant from the Artist Trust of Washington State. Currently, Lauren teaches photography classes at Everett and Shoreline Community Colleges.
Jean A. Kirby (Abandoned Car) was born and raised in Rhode Island, and currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA, where she became a printmaker. She is driven to incorporate diaphanous subjects such as clouds, mist, smoke, or fog in her prints. Jean seeks to experiment with the “oh so many” printmaking techniques, but currently favors linoleum and wood block relief printing. After moving to many places and trying many things, she has found a home in both Pittsburgh and printmaking. She recently discovered, by reading her mother’s birth certificate, that the occupation of her maternal Grandfather was listed as “Calico Printer.” This makes perfect sense to her. Follow her on Instagram - @jaknoodle.
Sara Potocsny (Diane) is a first-year MFA Poetry candidate at Syracuse University. When she is not writing poetry she is playing viola or painting or chasing her two-year-old around their house. She thanks you for looking, and wishes you a sweet day.
Christine Simpson (Portrait Of The Artist As An Eco-Feminist) is a working artist and Curator in Waterford, Ireland. She taught in the departments of Design Communications and Fine Art at the Waterford Institute of Technology for many years. Her work has been exhibited around the world and generally addresses subjects connected to our natural world, in particular the topic of climate change. The common thread throughout her work is a need to protect, to celebrate, to share, to connect and to nurture the earth. Christine has received numerous awards. Her work has also featured in many publications. Christine’s work is in many private collections and she regularly undertakes commissions for art pieces and commercial photographic illustrations. Learn more at christinesimpsonphotoart.com and curatedart.com.
Susannah Violette (Blackbird Counts) is an artist, silversmith, musician and poet and lives in the endless forests of Germany with her husband and two daughters. The forest stalks through Susannah’s works, an unavoidable and divine presence. The human experience, especially reflected in nature, is of profound interest to her.
Simone Webb (Cover Art, Ambition, Dissolution) produces limited edition prints and originals combining digital and traditional mediums. Flora and fauna bloom and decay in painterly gestures; arrangements of petals float seamlessly in placid space. Having had a solo show in London at Curious Duke Gallery (2017), she has exhibited in group shows nationally and internationally including Hong Kong, San Francisco, Seattle, and London. Webb regularly undertakes both private and commercial commissions, with her works held in several private collections worldwide. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including British Vogue and Wired. Learn more at simonewebb.com.