Poets
Destiny O. Birdsong (Website) is a writer whose work has appeared in the Paris Review Daily, Poets & Writers, African American Review, The Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. She has received support from Cave Canem, Callaloo, Jack Jones Literary Arts, Pink Door, MacDowell, The Ragdale Foundation, and Tin House. Her debut poetry collection, Negotiations, was published by Tin House Books in 2020. Her debut novel, Nobody’s Magic, was published by Grand Central in 2022, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, was a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and won the 2022 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction. She earned her BA in English and history from Fisk University, and her MFA in poetry and PhD in English from Vanderbilt University. In 2022, she was selected as the Hurston-Wright Foundation’s inaugural Writer-in-Residence at Rutgers University-Newark, and served as a 2022-24 Artist-in-Residence at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. She is a contributing editor for Poets & Writers Magazine.
Caitlin Cowan (Website) is the author of Happy Everything (Cornerstone Press, 2024). She has taught writing at the University of North Texas, Texas Woman’s University, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. Her work has received support from the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Vermont Studio Center. Caitlin works in arts nonprofit administration for Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where she serves as Director of International Tours and as Chair of Creative Writing. She also serves as Poetry Co-Editor at Pleiades and writes PopPoetry, a weekly poetry and pop culture newsletter. Caitlin lives on Michigan’s west coast with her husband, their young daughter, and two mischievous cats. Find her at caitlincowan.com.
Alyssa Froehling (Website) is a poet from the Midwest. She received her MFA from Ohio State in 2021 and her poems appear in Black Warrior Review, Puerto Del Sol, The Pinch, and elsewhere. Currently, she is an Assistant Poetry Editor of Sundog Lit and lives in Madison, WI, with her partner and her dog, Duckie.
Nina C. Peláez (Website) is a poet, educator, and cultural producer based in Maui, Hawaii, born in Las Vegas, NV, and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Nina recently received her MFA in Poetry from Bennington College and is the Associate Director of The Merwin Conservancy, the former home and garden of poet W.S. Merwin. She is an emerging writer whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Narrative, Electric Literature, Rattle, Pleiades, RHINO, Radar, The Baltimore Review, Cider Press Review, Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere. Her work has recently been awarded The Coniston Prize and a Key West Literary Seminars Fellowship and recognized as a Scotti Merrill Prize for Emerging Writers semifinalist. She is working on the manuscript for her first poetry collection.
Cara Waterfall (Website) is an Ottawa-born, Côte d’Ivoire-based poet, storyteller and mentor who teaches other writers how to sustain thriving, creative practices and reclaim their artistic identities. Her work frequently navigates the complexities of identity, place, and intergenerational memory. She has post-graduate diplomas in Poetry & Lyric Discourse from SFU's The Writer’s Studio, where she was mentored by Vancouver Poet Laureate, Fiona Tinwei Lam, and from the London School of Journalism. Her poems have appeared widely, including Best Canadian Poetry, SWWIM, and The Night Heron Barks. She won PULPLiterature’s 2023 Magpie Award for Poetry, Room’s 2018 Short Forms and 2020 Poetry Contests. In 2019, she was shortlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize. Her debut poetry collection, Radiant Wound, is forthcoming from Unsolicited Press in May 2025 and explores her life in Abidjan after the second civil war. She recently finished her second poetry manuscript, The Lost Stations, and is working on a third about Nouchi, a hybrid language that unites crucial threads of Côte d’Ivoire's identity. Subscribe to Cara's Substack, Archipel, an ongoing dialogue between poets and creatives of all kinds, celebrating the ways we connect through mentorship, community and transitions.
Chelsea Woodard’s (Website) third collection, At the Lepidopterist’s House, won the 2022 Michael Waters Poetry Prize and was published by Southern Indiana Review Press in the fall of 2023. At the Lepidopterist’s House was also awarded the 2024 Poetry by the Sea Book Prize. Chelsea is the author of two other collections, Solitary Bee (Measure Press, 2016) and Vellum (Able Muse Press, 2014). Her work has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Blackbird, 32 Poems, River Styx, and other journals, and is included in the anthology, In the Tempered Dark: Contemporary Poets Transcending Elegy (Black Lawrence Press, 2024). She is the recipient of the 2024 Peter Heinegg Literary Award, a Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and a residency at Vermont Studio Center.
Visual Artists
Kelly Cressio-Moeller (Website) is a poet and visual artist. New poems forthcoming in The Glacier, Thrush Poetry Journal, and Zyzzyva. Her poems have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best New Poets, and Best of the Net, appearing widely in journals including North American Review, Radar, Salamander, and Water~Stone Review. She lives in Northern California. Her first book, Shade of Blue Trees (Two Sylvias Press), was a finalist for the Wilder Prize. For more poetry and art news or inquiry, visit www.kellycressiomoeller.com.
Abbie Doll (Instagram, X) is an artist residing in Columbus, OH, with an MFA from Lindenwood University and is a Fiction Editor at Identity Theory. Her photography has been featured or is forthcoming in 3:AM Magazine, Gone Lawn, and Oddball Magazine, while her written work has appeared in places such as Door Is a Jar Magazine and Full House Literary. Connect on socials @AbbieDollWrites.
For P. Dubroof (Website, Facebook, Instagram), art is a profound source of joy. Her approach begins with a blank canvas, leading to a journey where heart and brush harmonize. Each stroke reflects her deep passion, transforming canvases into vibrant, emotive masterpieces. With a long career in the arts and healing field, P. Dubroof champions the therapeutic potential of art and uses it as a powerful tool for emotional and psychological well-being. She makes art accessible and integral to the community through her extensive volunteer work and collaborations with non-traditional gallery spaces. The artworks included in this issue are part of “Who Cares?”, a traveling exhibition of painted portraits that honors caregivers and their gracious generosity. To bring the conversation to your community, contact PDubroof (at) gmail (dot) com.
Taryn FitzGerald (Instagram) is an artist and writer living in Brooklyn. Her photo and video works have been exhibited nationally and abroad and are included in the Impakt Archive, the Internet Archive, and the NY Library for the Performing Arts Reserve Film and Video Collection. Her poems and drawings have appeared in Edge, a zine centered around survival skills and nature connection. She is also a bodyworker and energy healer and sometimes teaches earth living skills to fourth graders. When not doing any of these things, you can find her in the park, watching dogs run off leash.
Nuala McEvoy (Instagram, X) is a self-taught artist and writer of English/Irish origin. A late starter on her artistic journey, she now paints daily, and her artwork appears in Red Ogre Review, Quibble Lit, Heimat Review, Londemere Lit, Suburban Witchcraft, Underbelly Press, Ink in Thirds, Through Lines, and Free Flash Fiction. She has many more pieces upcoming soon in other reviews. She was recently interviewed by The Madrid Review and was the featured artist in Does it Have Pockets. She currently has two exhibitions in Münster, Germany. Nuala also enjoys writing and has had some of her poetry and stories published.
Sarah J. Sloat’s (Instagram) poems, prose and collage have appeared in Seneca Review, Diagram, Shenandoah, and many other publications. In 2020, Sarabande published her book of visual poetry, Hotel Almighty. Born in New Jersey, Sarah has lived for many years in Europe, where she works in news.