About Our Contributors

Peter Barlow is the author of Little Black Dots (Chatter House Press, 2017).  His work has appeared in Rosebud, The MacGuffin, The Homestead Review, Red Rock Review, Underground Voices, and Per Contra.  He is an adjunct professor of English at University of Detroit-Mercy.

Ruth Berman’s work has appeared in many general and literary magazines and anthologies. Her novel, Bradamant’s Quest, was published by FTL Publications. Her translations of two fairy tales by 18th century writer Louise Cavelier Levesque, The Prince of the Aquamarines & The Invisible Prince, were published by Aqueduct Press (Seattle WA); and of Trilby and other fantasies by Charles Nodier by Black Coat Press (Encino CA). Her Dear Poppa: The Berman WWII Berman Family Letters (non-fiction, edited) was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Jason Boling writes poetry and short fiction from deep in the heart of Texas. He is an avid photog­rapher and painter but mostly enjoys re-purposing fireworks.  His work has appeared in Carbon Culture Review and Mudlark.  He writes under the name Jon Fotch.

Tom Cassidy has been an active participant in correspondence art and visual poetry projects since 1973 and his artworks and written pieces have appeared in publications, galleries and muse­ums around the world. He co-founded the Portland, Oregon performance troupe The Impossibili­ties (in the ‘70s), who were reunited in 2008 by the Oregon Heritage Commission. He hosted MTN’s Access to Art series for three years, co-edited Minnesota Center for Book Arts’ vispoeolo­gee—an anthology of visual literature (2007), hosted open mikes for 25 years, was a producer and performer with Patrick’s Cabaret for over a decade. His doppelganger has held the same real world job for 36 years.

Bob Chikos has earned five degrees from some very unimpressive colleges. After many years of subjecting his captive students to his stories, he decided to submit some for publication. To his surprise, and to his family’s utter shock, several of them were accepted. He teaches special edu­cation at Crystal Lake Central High School and lives in Cary, IL with his spouse Aileen and son Martin.

Diane DeCillis’ first poetry collection Strings Attached (Wayne State Univ. Press, 2014) has been honored as a Michigan Notable Book for 2015, won the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Award for poetry, and was a finalist for the Forward Indie Fab Book Award.

A native Minnesotan, Duane Hawkinson divides his time between teaching and writing. His fiction and nonfiction works have appeared in several journals. Two of his short stories have been anthol­ogized. He has also just finished Pickles in the Roses, a satirical novel.

Delphine Hirsh is usually outraged by something and sometimes writes about it. She lives in Los Angeles, and can be found at www.delphinehirsh.com and on Instagram @delphinehirsh.

Gwendolyn Jensen began writing poems when she retired in 2001 from the presidency of Wilson College (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania). The places where her work has appeared include the Bel­oit Poetry Journal, the Harvard Review, Salamander, Sanskrit, Whistling Shade, and Measure. Her third book is Graceful Ghost (Birch Brook Press), a letterpress edition published in 2018. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Charlene Koski was born and raised in Arizona, but now enjoys the cooler weather and hiking trails of the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her husband and dog. A former newspaper reporter and magazine editor, her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Heater and Outlook Springs.

Julia Klatt Singer is the poet in residence at Grace Neighborhood Nursery School and a rostered artist for Compas. She is co-author of Twelve Branches: Stories from St. Paul, (Coffee House Press), and author of four books of poetry; In the Dreamed of Places, (Naissance Press), A Tan­gled Path to Heaven, and Untranslatable, (North Star Press), and her most recent chapbook, Ele­mental, published by Prolific Press. She has co-written over two dozen songs with composers Tim Takach and Jocelyn Hagen. Ms. Singer’s son likes to describe her as a long-haired, sweater-wear­ing poet and thief.

Evalyn Lee is a former CBS News producer currently living in London with her husband and two children. Over the years, she has produced television segments for 60 Minutes in New York and then for the BBC in London. Her broadcast work has received an Emmy and numerous Writers Guild Awards and she is currently at work on her first novel.

Steven Masterson lives in south eastern Massachusetts with his wife of thirty five years, Sheila. His stories have appeared in Forge and Ragazine.

Bray McDonald is a former Environmental Educator who now spends the majority of his time writ­ing. He was born and raised in north Alabama and studied poetry under Sue Walker and Walt Dar­ring at the University of South Alabama.

Carol Rucks is the author of Evidence of Rain. (Nodin Press). Her poems have appeared in West Branch, Abraxas, and Poetry Quarterly and elsewhere. She lives in Minneapolis.

Matthew J. Spireng of Kingston, N.Y., is an eight-time Pushcart Prize nominee and winner of The MacGuffin’s 23rd Annual Poet Hunt in 2018. His full-length books are What Focus Is and Out of Body, winner of the 2004 Bluestem Poetry Award and published by Bluestem Press.

Tim Taylor lives in Meltham, Yorkshire, UK and teaches ethics part-time at the University of Leeds.  “Water of Holme” was first published in the UK in Pennine Platform; Tim's poetry has also appeared in Acumen, Orbis, The Lake and various other magazines and collections.  He has also published two novels.  He likes playing the guitar and walking up hills (not necessarily at the same time). .

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 first poetry chapbook, The  White Forest, was recently published by Prolific Press. He lives with his wife and twin sons in St. Paul, and nei­ther pays nor charges reading fees.

Troy Varvel is an MFA candidate at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The American Journal of Poetry, Barren, and Yemassee, among oth­ers.

Greg Watson is the author of All the World at Once: New and Selected Poems, and co-editor with Richard Broderick of The Road by Heart: Poems of Fatherhood. His forthcoming collection of poems, The Sound of Light, will be published next year.

Dan Wiencek is a poet, critic and humorist who lives in Portland, Oregon. His work has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Hypertrophic Literary, Crack the Spine, New Ohio Review and other publications. He is currently working on his first collection of poems.