Issue Seventeen Contributors

Shane Allison has had poems published in Mississippi Review, New Delta Review, Absinthe Literary Review and others. He has been nominated for two Pushcart prizes.

Jessica Athens doesn't have previous publications, unless you count her high school poetry collection, a children's book she wrote for a scholarship, a skit she wrote during a playwriting course in college (produced by the local historical society), or articles on environmental health or collective action. She moonlights as an epidemiologist and public health researcher, dabbles in aerial dance, enjoys baking scones and muffins, and loves the smell of mud on her in-laws' farm. She's lived in four countries on three continents and even speaks a little Hindi. Her husband's fourteen inches taller than she is and requires a lot of whole milk and cheddar.

Richard Barrett lives and works in Salford. His poetry has appeared in publications such as The Ugly Tree, The Delinquent and Great Works. He has a poem scheduled to appear in the next issue of Parameter. His reviews have begun to appear on the site Experimental Fiction And Poetry. A paper delivered at the University of Salford's May conference on the group The Fall is due to be published soon. He writes for the Manchester based physical theatre group Artificial Light. He is currently working on an essay for the site Popmatters on the recurrence of the character of the heavy drinker in a lot of recent Scottish fiction.

Anika Fajardo has published a variety of short pieces; most recently a story, “Madison Metro,” appeared in the San Francisco City|Space anthology, Get on the Bus: Short and True Tales of Bus Travel . She is a writer and librarian living in Minneapolis. Anika recently completed her first novel entitled The V Word and is at work on an anthology of stories and recipes called Let Them Eat Crepes (www.eatingcrepes.com). Her favorite type of pie is her grandmother's homemade cherry, which she invariably eats in February in honor of George Washington.

Mel Fawcett lives in London. He is a carpenter by day and writer by night. When darkness falls over the city, he rises from his daytime slumber and attempts to nail another story.   His most recent work (other than the piece in this issue of apt) appears in 34th Parallel.

Steve De France has traveled widely in the United States. On more than one occasions he hitch-hiked across America. He rode rails on freight trains, worked as a laborer on pick-up gangs in Arizona, dug swimming pools in Texas, did thirty-three days in the Pecos city jail as a vagrant, fought bulls in Mexico, and dove for salvage off a small island on the coast of Mazatlan.   After traveling the country in pursuit of adventure, he later worked his way through college driving Yellow Cab and working as a bartender and bouncer.   He received a B.A. in Theatre Arts from C.S.U.L.B. He immediately transferred to San Francisco State University. He worked for the San Francisco Shakespeare Company and the Marin Shakespeare Company playing leading and supporting roles. He returned to Los Angeles and finished a Master's in English Literature. He continued his education at USC and later at Chapman University where he received an MFA in Creative Writing. In 1999, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for his writing. He has written & sold scripts for Hollywood & worked as a professional actor in film & television. He continues to write poetry, plays, essays & short stories. He sails a small sailboat out of Long Beach, California.   His poetry has been published in most of the English speaking countries of the world. He has won writing awards in England and in the United States.

Carissa Halston, author of A Girl Named Charlie Lester, is sending out flurries of e-mails, trying to set up readings.   Upcoming appearances in 2009 include: author feature at Girlsalon and, once again, she'll share a table with the ever-talented Jesse Farrell, at the New York Comic Convention in February. As for the waning days and weeks and months of 2008, she's hoping to crash the open mic night at Brooklyn's Vox Pop.

Matthew Holt is a Sydney-based writer (three of his plays have been produced: Clean Skins, The Von Kleist Show, and Socrates Johnston is Unemployable ); he is also designer and editor for the independent Australian press, Puncher and Wattmann.

Harry Johnson has a BA in creative writing from Antioch University and he has lived in New Jersey, Boston, New York City, and, currently, Los Angeles.   His poetry has been published in The Verse Marauder, Above Ground Testing, and I have two new poems featured in this month's edition of Locust Magazine.   His fiction has been published in The Aggregated Press, Flask and Pen, Ink Filled Page, and a new piece will be published in the next edition of 21 Stars Review. He has a story published in the current issue of Rain Farm Press's Paradigm, as well as a story featured in the current edition of The Clackamas Literary Review.

Short fiction by Bryan Jones has appeared in The Danforth Review and Diddledog, and is forthcoming in Pequin. He lives and works in Texas. Regarding pies, pecan would be the favorite.

More than six hundred poems and stories by Kristine Ong Muslim have been published or are forthcoming in over three hundred journals, magazines, and anthologies worldwide. Her work has recently appeared in Blue Fifth Review, Dog Versus Sandwich, Farrago's Wainscot, Front Porch, GlassFire Magazine, Pank, Grasslimb, and GUD Magazine.

When Peter Schwartz paints, he tries to create what he calls 'organized randomness.'  He lets his hands go wild until the urge to balance takes over. Then his goal is to make something that although balanced is still dramatic and exciting, an image that both quickens the heart and raises questions in the mind.   The thing he loves about abstract art is it allows viewers to participate, to interpret what they see using their own histories and perceptions. His work is not so vague as to leave you in the dark, but it doesn't spoonfeed you either. It allows you to dream.

Lukas Sherman is getting his teaching degree in Portland, Oregon. His schooling includes Wheaton College & Boston University. His work has appeared in the Promethean, a college arts magazine, and some online magazine.

Having earned his MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Norwich University, Vincent Zandri has published in many journals, periodicals and newspapers including Orange Coast Magazine, Lost Creek Letters, Rosebud Magazine, The Best of Rosebud Magazine, and Buffalo Spree.   He has also had stories accepted in Maryland Review, Negative Capability, and Crazyquilt. He's written for Game and Fish Magazine, Hudson Valley Magazine, Common Ties Magazine and New York Newsday.   Currently, Vincent edits two construction/architecture related on-line newsletters for globalspec.com, the world's leading engineering and architectural on-line resource. He also writes and manages two architectural-related Globalspec blogs.