Issue Sixteen Contributors

L. Ward Abel - Poet, composer (Max Able / Abel, Rawls & Hayes), lawyer and spoken-word performer (Scapeweavel), L. Ward Abel lives in rural Georgia and has had hundreds of his poems   published in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including or forthcoming in White Pelican Review, Versal, Texas Poetry Journal, Kritya, Open Wide, The Reader, The Pedestal, Mo: Readings From The River, and others.   He is the author of Peach Box and Verge (Little Poem Press, 2003), Jonesing for Byzantium (UK Authors Press, 2006) and the forthcoming The Heat of Blooming (Pudding House Press) to be published later this year.

Kristy Athens is a freelance writer and editor who writes short-short fiction from a small farm near Husum, Washington. She has been a visiting writer at Hood River Community Education, Mt. Hood Community College, Write Around Portland and Writers in the Schools, and served on the boards of Northwest Writers, Inc., Independent Publishing Resource Center and Hood River County Cultural Trust. From 1999 to 2006, she ran the Oregon Book Awards and Oregon Literary Fellowships programs of Literary Arts. Her work has been published in a number of magazines, newspapers and literary journals, including Poor Mojo's Alamanc(k) and 2 Gyrlz Quarterly.

Stephanie Dickinson's fiction appears in Cream City Review, Storyglossia, Carrve, Green Mountains Review, African-American Review, Chelsea, Storyquarterly, Gulf Coast, Santa Monica Review, Calyx, among others. Along with Rob Cook, she is an editor for Skidrow Penthouse. Her story “A Lynching in Stereoscope” was reprinted in Best American 2005 Non-required Reading edited by Dave Eggers.   “Lucky 7 & Dalloway” will be reprinted in New Stories from the South, Best of 2008 . A first novel, Half Girl , is published by Spuyten Duyvil. Days she sits before a computer in the belly of the beast entering numbers and hoping for enlightenment.   Years of such days have passed.

Peter J. Field is a carpenter in Portland, Oregon. Pies, he enjoys one the same as the next. His writing has never before been published; he is known for his work with Ken Horsehair.

Julian Jason Haladyn's poems and short stories have appeared in, among others, apt, Ditch, Elimae, Identity Theory, Istanbul Literature Review, Laika Poetry Review, Nthposition, and Otoliths, as well as the collection Nuit Blanche: Poetry for Late Nights (Toronto: Royal Sarcophagus Society Press, 2007). His poetry book 17/13 was published Blue Medium (2007) and my chapbook ConvulsiveHotel Dreams was published by Trainwreck Press (2008). He has also published collaborative critical articles and reviews with Miriam Jordan, including a chapter in Stanley Kubrick: Essays on His Films and Legacy (McFarland and Company, 2007).

Carissa Halston, 26, writes plays, novels, comics, verse, and anything else she's inclined to set to paper. Her debut novel, A Girl Named Charlie Lester , was honorably mentioned at New York Book Festival 2008 and lauded as “a lovely piece of female confessional” by Kirkus Reviews.   To view a “definitive” list of her work, click here.

T.R. Healy - I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and my stories have appeared in such publications as Cause and Effect, Canopic Jar, The Flask Review, and Lily.

Jacqueline Hincapie is a recent graduate from Boston College, currently living in New Jersey until she can make her way back to Massachusetts.

Sandy Hiss's poetry has been published in over 65 print and online journals. Her first book of poetry, Ever Violet, was released by D-N Publishing in April 2007. She is also the editor of Flutter, an online poetry journal.

Mark Jackley lives and works in the Washington, DC, area. His work has appeared in numerous journals in the U.S. and overseas. He is the author of two chapbooks, the most recent, Into the River Somewhere, published last year by Finishing Line Press.

Eric McKinley is a Philadelphian and a former public defender in the former most dangerous city in America, Camden, New Jersey. Now, he is an MFA in Fiction Candidate at Rosemont College, slightly reducing the likelihood that he'll get stabbed. He writes a story every now and again. His work has appeared in The Aurelian Literary Journal and is forthcoming in The Battered Suitcase.

Jonathan Pinnock was born in Bedfordshire, England, and—despite having so far visited over forty other countries—has failed to relocate any further away than the next-door county of Hertfordshire. He is married with two children and a 1961 Ami Continental jukebox. His work has won several prizes, shortlistings and longlistings, and he has been published in such diverse publications as Smokebox, Six Sentences, and Necrotic Tissue.

Felino Soriano, from California, is a Case Manager working with developmentally disabled adults. He is also a philosophy student. His chapbook Exhibits Require Understanding Open Eyes was published by Trainwreck Press, 2008.   His poetry appears at BlazeVOX, Otoliths, Hecale, Ygdrasil, Clockwise Cat , and elsewhere.   Visit www.felinosoriano.com for a complete publication history and for more information and where you can e-mail him a recipe for banana cream pie, his favorite.

Alex Stolis lives in Minneapolis. Most recent work can be found at Rubicon Press--a collaborative chapbook small confessions & pebbles of regret.

Lydia Suarez's work has appeared in 971 Menu, Literary Tonic, and All Things Girl.   She was a finalist for the Warren Adler Short Story Contest. Work is forthcoming in Girls and Cars and The Lotus Reader.

Elizabeth Kate Switaj has two full-length books of poetry forthcoming: How to Drink a Floral Moon from Blue Lion Books and Magdalene and the Mermaids from Paper Kite Press. Her chapbook, The Broken Sanctuary, is currently available from Ypolita Press. When not writing, she teaches English at Shengda College of Zhengzhou University in rural China and edits Crossing Rivers Into Twilight. Her favorite kind of pie is blackberry or cherry, depending on which is available for her to pick herself.

Lisa Zaran is a poet, essayist and author of six collections including, The Blondes Lay Content, and the sometimes girl, the latter of which was recently the focus of a yearlong course in Germany. I've been writing poetry since childhood.   Recent places where some of my work can be found include Point Barre, Winamop, All Things Girl, Pink Nighties, A Little Poetry, The Arabesques Review, and The Peregrine Muse.