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About Our Contributors


Brian Beatty is the author of two recent poetry collections, Coyotes I Couldn’t See (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2016) and Brazil, Indiana (Kelsay Books, 2017). He lives in St. Paul, MN.

Mark Belair’s poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Harvard Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Poetry East. His latest collection is Watching Ourselves (Unsolicited Press, 2017). Previous collections include Breathing Room; Night Watch; While We’re Waiting; and Walk With Me. Please visit www.markbelair.com.

Gina Marie Bernard holds B.A., B.S., and M.A. degrees from Bemidji State University. She lives in Bemidji, Minnesota, where she teaches high school English. Her daughters, Maddie and Parker, are the two halves of her heart. Her work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in New Plains Review, Mortar Magazine, and Cape Rock Poetry; "Canada Lynx" originally appeared online at Burningword Literary Journal.

Jane Blanchard lives and writes in Georgia. Her first collection, Unloosed, and her second, Tides & Currents, are both available from Kelsay Books.

Madelyn Camrud is a graduate of the University of North Dakota with a master’s degree in Eng­lish. She’s had two full collections, This House Is Filled With Cracks and Oddly Beautiful, pub­lished by New Rivers Press.

Natalie Crick has found delight in writing all of her life and first began writing when she was a very young girl. Her poetry is influenced by melancholic confessional Women's poetry. Her poetry has been published in a range of journals and magazines including Cannons Mouth, Cyphers, Ari­adne's Thread, Carillon and National Poetry Anthology 2013.

Cheryl Derby owns and operates a used bookstore in Troy, New York where she continues the family business. She is also a watercolorist.

Norita Dittberner-Jax has published four books of poetry, among them, The Watch which was published by Whistling Shade Press. Her most recent collection is Crossing the Water (Nodin Press). She has won fellowships and prizes for her work and has taught creative writing exten­sively. A native of Saint Paul, Norita now lives across the Mississippi River in Lilydale where she follows the course of the Great Water from her apartment.

Scott Helmes is a poet, book artist, writer, artist, architect and photographer. His experimental poetry has been collected, published and exhibited worldwide for over 40 years. Recent books include 1000 Haiku (Stamp Pad Press), Poems From Then to Now, (Redfox Press, Ireland) and The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008. With Minnesota Center for Book Arts and Picasso Gaglione, he is creating the S. Helmes and W. Gaglione Antique Rubber Stamp Archive in Minneapolis. He is a co-founder of S2BH, which designs and sells Corian® tabletop accessories in museum shops nationwide. His studio is located in Minneapolis, MN, USA.

J.M. McBirnie is a professor and translator whose works have appeared in such publications as The Jewish Literary Review, Masque and Spectacle, and Transference Magazine.

Meghan D.S. Muchow hails from Wisconsin but now resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she works as a writer and lives with her husband and her dog, Moby Dick. She is currently enrolled in the MFA program at Hamline University.

Ken O’Steen is from Los Angeles, California, but currently lives in Proctor, Vermont. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Cleaver, The Wolfian, Connotation Press, Litbreak, Sleet, New Pop Lit, and other publications. "Dinner at Musso and Frank", was included in the anthology The Muse in the Bottle: Great Writers on the Joys of Drinking.

John-Ivan Palmer’s literary work has been widely anthologized and has appeared in Pushcart Prizes, Fortean Times, Exquisite Corpse, Nth Position, Book Happy and others. His journalism and interviews have appeared in large circulation newspapers like the San Francisco Examiner and Milwaukee Journal as well as underground shock culture publications. He is author of the novel Motels of Burning Madness. John-IvanPalmer.com.

Daniel Rattelle is a poet and arts journalist from Western Massachusetts where he lives with his wife and two kids. He is the author of the chapbook Let Us Sit Upon the Ground (2017). He tweets occasionally @danielrattelle.

Robert Rothman lives in Northern California, near extensive trails and open space, with the Pacific Ocean over the hill. His work has appeared in the Atlanta Review, The Alembic, Existere, the Meridian Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, Westview, Willow Review and over fifty other liter­ary journals. https://robertrothman.wordpress.com.

Saramanda Swigart is thrilled to be writing fiction exclusively after years of writing advertising copy and corporate literature. Her short fiction has appeared in Caveat Lector, Fogged Clarity, The Literati Quarterly, OxMag, The Penman Review, Ragazine, Superstition Review and Thin Air.

Kendra Tanacea holds an MFA from Bennington College. Her collection of poetry, A Filament Burns in Blue Degrees was published by Lost Horse Press in 2017.

Justin Teerlinck is an occupational therapist in the Tacoma, Washington area, where he is learn­ing how to place his writing skills and sense of the absurd in service to people with disabilities. His response to most standardized test questions is, “Meow don't know this theoretical construct. Meow try again please?”

Joel Van Valin is the publisher of Whistling Shade. His recently released second novel, The Grand Dissolute, is a time travel story set in St. Paul in 1998. In the past he has flown airplanes, but he would prefer a flying car.

Margaret Young is the author of two previous books of poetry, Willow From the Willow (Cleveland State University Poetry Center) and Almond Town (Bright Hill Press), and one forthcoming, Blight Summer from Finishing Line.

Jim Zola has worked in a warehouse, as a security guard, in a bookstore, as a teacher for Deaf children, as a toy designer for Fisher Price, and currently as a children's librarian. Published in many journals through the years, his publications include a chapbook—The One Hundred Bones of Weather (Blue Pitcher Press)—and a full length poetry collection— What Glorious Possibilities (Aldrich Press). He currently lives in Greensboro, NC