San Francisco, CA

Ann Grogan is a joyful octogenarian, pianophile, retired lawyer, and emerging poet who lives in San Francisco, CA. Her writing promotes the unequivocal permission to pursue one’s passions at any age. Her poems have appeared in Querencia, Amethyst Review, Shot Glass Journal, Little Old Lady, The Prairie Review, and others. She’s the author of two volumes of poetry, Poetic Musings on Pianos, Music & Life.  Her music and poetry website is rhapsodydmb.com.

Kansas City, MO

Ashley Gilland is a writer and multimedia artist from Kansas City currently pursuing her MFA at UW Bothell. Her work is published in So to Speak, Peatsmoke, Thimble, and whiptail, among others. When not writing poetry, she also loves composing music and embroidering mixed media art projects. Find her music on Spotify and Bandcamp, her art on Instagram — @ashley_gilland & @pocketsnailart, and her tweets on X — @earlgreysnail.

Lee’s Summit, MO

Barry L. Lewis is a Missouri native and is often found in wooded lots gleaning nature’s wonders. He shares his home with his lovely bride of fifty years. His poetry has or will appear in HotPoet Equinox, Literature Today, Amethyst Review, Poetry Breakfast, The Writers’ Journal, Grist, Harrow House Journal and elsewhere.

Hermosa Beach, CA

Ben Starr studied poetry in college and as part of the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. A proud member of the Bursky Collective, his work has been published or is forthcoming in Bending Genres, Dishsoap Quarterly, Maudlin House, Gone Lawn, SoFloPoJo and other journals. Find more of his work on X — @benjaminstarr and at benstarrwrites.com

Seattle, WA

Betsy Bott was born and raised in the Bronx, and currently lives in Capitol Hill, Seattle with her husband Jason and an orange cat named Franklin. She studies writing at Hugo House in Seattle. Betsy loves animals, even the unpopular ones like pigeons, snakes, and rats. You can find her on Instagram — @beebo_mcweeb.

Los Angeles, CA

Debbie Graber's short fiction has appeared in Short Story, Long, The Thieving Magpie, Zyzzyva, and Harper's, among other journals. Her story collection, Kevin Kramer Starts on Monday, was published in 2016 by The Unnamed Press.

Perth, Western Australia

Duc Dau is a bisexual Vietnamese-Australian writer and researcher based in the School of Humanities at The University of Western Australia. She is the 2025 winner of the Annette Cameron Award for an unpublished poet in Western Australia, and has been shortlisted for a number of national poetry prizes. Her academic books include Sex, Celibacy, and Deviance: The Victorians and the Song of Songs (2024) and Touching God: Hopkins and Love (2012).

Baton Rouge, LA

Emily Drez is a writer and grad student attending Southeastern Louisiana University. She lives in Baton Rouge, where she sometimes emerges from her pile of books to do some writing. You can find her on Instagram — @emilydrez. 

Ballymoney, Northern Ireland

Ewen Glass is a screenwriter and poet from Northern Ireland who lives with two dogs, a tortoise and a body of self-doubt; his poetry has appeared in the likes of Okay Donkey, Maudlin House, HAD, Poetry Scotland, and One Art. You can him on Bluesky, X, and Instagram — @ewenglass.

Seaside, CA

Dr. Ginearosa Carbone is an author, musician, and physician. Her writing includes horror and the illusion of normalcy, examining the thin line between safety and catastrophe. She was born and raised in California, where the earth is always threatening to open up.

Stratford, Ontario, Canada

Karlis Wilde is from Stratford, Ontario, Canada, and holds a bachelor’s degree in religion and culture from Wilfrid Laurier University. His work has previously been published in the Brussels Review. You can find him on Instagram – @karliswilde.

Honolulu, HI

Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Kelly Murashige is the author of the award-winning YA novel The Lost Souls of Benzaiten and Adam Silvera’s July 2025 Allstora Book Club pick, The Yomigaeri Tunnel. Her work has been nominated for Best Small Fictions.

Lewisburg, PA

Sammy Bellin lives in Lewisburg, PA. His poetry appears or is forthcoming in Rust and Moth, wildscape.literary journal, January House Literary Journal, and Delicate Emissions. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with cats and wandering in the cold. You can find him on Instagram — @sammyabellin.

Wisconsin

Taylor Hamann Los holds an MFA from Lindenwood University. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Whale Road Review, Chestnut Review, Magma Poetry, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and trampset, among others. She is the author of Between My Spine & the River (Ridge Books, 2025). You can find her on X — @taylorhamannlos and at taylorhamannlos.wordpress.com.