Troy Alvey teaches English courses in Louisville, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife and daughter. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Spalding University.

Verna Austen received her MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University and is currently finishing revisions of her first novel. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Stan Badgett and his wife live in the mountains of western Colorado, where they raised four children. In earlier years he worked in the coal mines and taught wilderness survival skills; more recently he has made his living as an artist and English teacher.

Barry Ballard’s poetry has most recently appeared in Prairie Schooner, The Connecticut Review, Margie, and Puerto del Sol. His most recent collection is A Body Speaks Through Fence Lines (Pudding House, 2006). He writes from Burleson, Texas.

Scott Bloom lives in Plymouth with his wife and two dogs. He is a graduate of the U.S. Defense Information School and currently manages Domestic Ground Operations for Fedex Express.

Ann Bogle’s prose and poetry has been published in several literary journals and webzines. Those are listed at her website Ana Verse at http://annbogle.blogspot.com.

Doug Bolling’s poetry has appeared extensively in literary magazines and journals, including Georgetown Review, Mid-America Poetry Review, Poem, Good Foot, Poesia, Red Wheelbarrow, Wallace Stevens Journal, Nexus, Blueline, Mochila Review, Slant, Birmingham Poetry Review, Quercus Review, Rockhurst Review, Plainsongs and Pebble Lake Review, among others. New work is forthcoming in Hurricane Review, Blue Unicorn, Ibbetson Street, Muse & Stone, and Karamu. He currently resides in Flossmoor, Illinois.

Elizabeth Browne works as a reporter in San Francisco. Her articles and essays have appeared online, in newspapers, and in the anthology Gardening at a Deeper Level, published by Garden House Press in 2004. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College in Boston.

Michael Carrino holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College. He is an English lecturer at the State University College at Plattsburgh, New York, where he is co-editor and poetry editor of the Saranac Review. His publications include Some Rescues, (New Poets Series, Inc.) Under This Combustible Sky, (Mellen Poetry Press) and Café Sonata, (Brown Pepper Press), as well as individual poems in numerous journals and reviews.

Anne Champion is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a BA in Creative Writing and Behavioral Psychology. She is currently working on an MFA in poetry at Emerson College in Boston, MA. Her work has also appeared in Our Time is Now.

“Girls Life: A How-to Manual” is the epilogue of Susan Chiavelli’s recently completed novel-in-stories, Winter Oranges. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in 580 Split, Other Voices, Spindrift, Rattle, Lunch Hour Stories, collectedstories.com and elsewhere.
   Among other awards, “Greasy Pink” won the 580 Split fiction contest at Mill’s College, Oakland, California. She has been a recipient of the John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts first place literature award, and her stories have been performed on stage by Speaking of Stories, a Santa Barbara readers’ theater similar to NPR’s Selected Shorts.
   Susan is the co-editor of the newly released More Letters from the Heart—words of wisdom from exceptional women and girls, a 50th anniversary project of Girls Incorporated of Greater Santa Barbara. She is a native of Seattle, Washington, who now lives and writes in Rattle Snake Canyon, Santa Barbara, California.

Dallas Crow teaches English at Breck School in Golden Valley, Minnesota. He does not have an MFA. His poems have appeared in a number of publications, including Arion, Cairn, and English Journal. His nonfiction is forthcoming in North Dakota Quarterly.

Philip Dacey’s latest of eight books is The Mystery of Max Schmitt: Poems on the Life and Work of Thomas Eakins (Turning Point, 2004). His ninth will be The New York Postcard Sonnets: A Midwesterner Moves to Manhattan (Rain Mountain Press, 2007). The winner of three Pushcart Prizes, he appears in new anthologies from the U. of Notre Dame Press (Irish-American poetry from the 18th century to the present) and the Minnesota Historical Society (Minnesota poetry of the last 150 years). He taught for 35 years at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall before moving to New York City. More of his work can be found at www.philipdacey.com.

Isolda Dosamantes was born in Tlaxcala, Mexico, in 1969. She is the author of Altura lustral (2000) and Gótico florido (2001). In the US, translations of her poems have appeared in Loch Raven Review and International Poetry Review.

John Dutterer has been writing poetry for fifteen years. A rather thorough public school education exposed him to Wilfred Owen, Albert Camus, and Gilgamesh. At the time he was a musician, but literature soon took priority. When time permits, he also paints, makes collages, and builds art objects out of found materials. While living in San Diego he helped to organize two art and literature shows for charity. John lives in the Baltimore area with his wife and son. His work has previously appeared in the Driftwood Highway anthology and Samizdada.

Kelly Madigan Erlandson’s poems and essays have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Crazyhorse, The Massachusetts Review, and 32 Poems. She is the author of the how-to book, Getting Sober: A Practical Guide to Making it Through the First 30 Days (McGraw-Hill, 2007).

Stacia M. Fleegal is a graduate of Spalding University’s brief-residency MFA in Writing program. Her poetry has appeared in Asphodel, The Blue Moon Review, 3rd Muse Poetry Journal, The Furnace Review, Blood Orange Review, Expository Magazine, Earth’s Daughters, and Eclectic Muse, and is forthcoming in Comstock Review and the anthologies Bleeding on the Page: Women Writing About Menstruation and A Quiet Corner Somewhere: Essays and Poems on Introversion. In 2006, her poetry won first place in the graduate division of the Kentuckiana Metroversity Writing Competition and placed as a special merit finalist in Comstock Review’s Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award in Poetry contest. In 2007, Finishing Line Press published a chapbook of her poems titled A Fling with the Ground. She is co-founder and co-editor of Blood Lotus, an online literary journal.

Crystal S. Gibbins was born in Lake of the Woods, Baudette, Minnesota. She is a graduate assistant at Winona State University, where she is pursuing her M.A. degree in Language and Literature. She received her M.F.A degree in Creative Writing and Certificate in Publishing from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Her poetry has appeared in Dust & Fire, The Talking Stick, Touchstone, and theyellowzine.com.

Bruce Henricksen’s short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and in two anthologies. His story collection, Ticket to a Lonely Town (Atomic Quill, 2006), finished second for the Grace Paley Prize in 2005, prior to its publication. It was been adopted state-wide in Minnesota by Barnes & Noble in 2006. The book and other short pieces are available at Amazon.com, along with an author profile page. Bruce lives in Duluth MN with his wonderful wife, Victoria. Visit Bruce at brucehenricksen.com.

Peter Huggins teaches in the English Department at Auburn University. His books of poems are Necessary Acts, Blue Angels, both from River City Publishing, and Hard Facts, Livingston Press; his new book of poems, South, is forthcoming from Louisiana Literature Press in 2008. He is also the author of a picture book, Trosclair and the Alligator, Star Bright Books, New York, and a forthcoming novel for middle readers, In the Company of Owls, from NewSouth Books. For 2006 he was the recipient of a literature fellowship in poetry from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

Jennifer Jerome is a native New Yorker. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in various publications, including The Pedestal Magazine, The Comstock Review, Pebble Lake Review, Astropoetica, and ChiZine. For more about her writing, cast your ‘net at www.jenniferjerome.com for a spell.

George Kalamaras is the author of five books of poetry, three of which are full-length, Even the Java Sparrows Call Your Hair (Quale Press, 2004), Borders My Bent Toward (Pavement Saw Press, 2003), and The Theory and Function of Mangoes (Four Way Books, 2000), winner of the Four Way Books Intro Series. He is Professor of English at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, where he has taught since 1990. The Bitter Oleander Press will bring out his sixth poetry collection, Gold Carp Jack Fruit Mirrors, in 2008.

Toshiya Kamei is the translator of The Curse of Eve and Other Stories (Host Publications, forthcoming) by Liliana V. Blum, as well as selected works by Isolda Dosamantes.

Dimitri Keriotis teaches English at Modesto Junior College, serves as Fiction Editor of the Quercus Review, and coordinates the High Sierra Institute. His work has also appeared in Epicenter: A Literary Magazine. He lives with his wife and daughters outside of Modesto, CA.

Cyn Kitchen holds a BA in English from Knox College and an MFA in Writing from Spalding University. She was short-listed for the 2004 Raymond Carver Short Story Award and her story, “How to Avoid Sex With a Man Who Weighs 300 Lbs. More Than You” subsequently a peared in Carve Magazine. Her ficiton, non-fiction and poetry has appeared in: Salon, Literary Mama, Santa Fe Writers Project, New Southerner, Chicago Tribune and is forthcoming in the anthology, Bleeding on the Page. Cyn teaches creative writing and literature at Knox College in Galesburg, IL.

Dave Kiyvyra used to operate under his alias, Dave Guyot. He has published fiction in several journals, most recently the Spring 2007 issue of Coe Review. He is a member of the trey-8 think tank (trey-8thinktank.com) and can be reached at davekiyvyra@gmail.com.

Amy Kolen’s work has appeared in the collections Best American Essays, 2002; Bicycle Love (2004); Prairie Weather (2005); and in a variety of publications, including The Missouri Review, The Massachusetts Review, Orion, Under the Sun, The Florida Review, The Flint Hills Review, and Marginalia. She received her MFA from the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program and is the MBA Writing Consultant at the University of Iowa’s Henry B. Tippie School of Management.

Mary C. O’Malley has a MSW and MFA. She is also a mother of two sets of twins. Her work has been published in literary print venues such as Whiskey Island, Heartland, The Tripton Poetry Journal Both Sides Now, Ropes and in the recent anthology Cleveland in Prose and Poetry. Her work can be seen online in Poetry Midwest and The BoxCar Review. Several of her poems have been chosen for spoken word performances by the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland. This past year, her poem, “In Iraq”, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The Tipton Poetry Journal. Her chapbook, Dance Shoes and Holograms will be published by Pudding House and comes out sometime this year.

J. E. Robinson, a college history instructor, has been published widely. His essays have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and they have received the Illinois Arts Council Literary Award in Prose. His debut novel, Skip Macalester, was designated a Summer 2006 “Paperback Pick” by the American Booksellers Association. He lives in Southern Illinois, near St. Louis.

Terry Savoie writes: “My material has been published in more than a hundred and thirty-five literary journals, anthologies and small press publications including American Poetry Review, Poetry, Ploughshares and Poetry Northwest as well as recent or forthcoming numbers of Another Chicago Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Poetry East, Steam Ticket, Diner, North American Review, and The Iowa Review. A full-length manuscript is currently looking for a publisher.”

Mika Shin was born in South Korea and spent her childhood and adolescence in several countries, including Switzerland, America, England, Malaysia and Korea. She studied architecture in Seoul and is currently working toward her degree in English Literature in New York.

Lisa L. Siedlarz is a graduate student at Southern Connecticut State University where she was named 2005-2006 Graduate poet. Her honors include the 2006 Leo Connellan prize, the 2006 John Holmes Poetry Award, and nomination for a 2006 Pushcart Prize. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Louisiana Literature, Connecticut Review, Rattle, Poetry Southeast, The South Carolina Review, New Millenneium Writings, CADUCEUS, Connecticut River Review, Alimentum, and War, Literature & the Arts. Ms. Siedlarz lives in New Haven, CT.

Dan Sklar teaches writing at Endicott College where he tries to get his students to love language and to write in a natural and spontaneous way. He is also editor of the Endicott Review. Some publications include Poetry East, Square Lake, Rhino, Harvard Review, Paper Street, Mid-America Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, Maine Street Rag, the English Journal, the New York Quarterly, and Barbaric Yawp, which nominated “Mythology” for a Pushcart Prize.

Matt Urmy is a poet, storyteller, and musician. He has recorded and published three independent albums, and published one collection of poems, Ghosts In A House, with Finishing Line Press. He is also the founder of the upcoming Global Artist’s Coalition for Change and Equality (globalacce.org). Matt is also a student and practitioner of healing arts. He has been working and studying with healers of the Maori people in New Zealand for nearly a decade, and continues to deepen those connections. He is the father of one son, and lives in Tennessee.

Mark Wagenaar is the only player, to his knowledge, to begin and end a professional soccer career under suspension. He has poetry accepted or published in Descant, Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, Portland Review, Poetry Midwest, Tar River Poetry, Briar Cliff Review, and Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review.

Carole Waterhouse is a creative writing professor at California University of Pennsylvania. Her short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines including The Massachusetts Review, The Artful Dodge, Turnrow, The Styles, Potpourri, and The Griffin. She is also author of a novel, Without Wings, and a short story collection, The Paradise Ranch.

Cary Waterman’s poems appear in the recent anthologies, Minnesota Women Poets from Pre-Territorial Days to the Present and Where One Voice Ends Another Begins: 150 Years of Minnesota Poetry. She is the author of three books of poems and teaches in the English Departments at Augsburg College and Normandale Community College.

A. D. Winans is a native San Francisco poet, writer and photographer. His work has been published internationally. A poem of his was set to music and performed in 2005 at Tully Hall. Winner of a 2006 PEN National Josephine Miles Literary Achievement Award. Presa Press just published a book of his Selected Poems, The Other Side of Broadway: Selected Poems: 1965-2005.

Anna Witiuk is a high school student in New York. She attended Breadloaf’s Young Writer’s Conference at Middlebury College and is a member of a mentoring program called Girls Write Now. She has won two Silver Keys and a Gold Key from Scholastic for her fiction and poetry. One of her stories won the National American Voices Award.