Mark Belair's poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Alabama Literary Review, Atlanta Review, Harvard Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Poetry East and The South Carolina Review. His books include the collection While We're Waiting (Aldrich Press, 2013) and two chapbook collections: Night Watch (Finishing Line Press, 2013), and Walk With Me (Parallel Press of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, 2012). www.markbelair.com

Kevin Heaton is originally from Kansas and Oklahoma, and now lives and writes in South Carolina. His work has appeared in a number of publications including Guernica, Raleigh Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Adroit Journal, and The Monarch Review. He is a Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. ckheaton@bellsouth.net

Mindy Kronenberg is an award-winning writer whose poetry, prose, and reviews have appeared in over 400 publications in the US and abroad. Her writing accolades include film and video, and has been featured in art installations and spoken word. She teaches at SUNY Empire State College, and offers workshops in the community through Poets & Writers and BOCES. She edits Book/Mark Quarterly Review, and is the author of Dismantling the Playground and Images of America: Miller Place. cyberpoet@optonline.net

Nicolas Ridley has lived and worked in Tokyo, Casablanca, Barcelona, Paris and Hong Kong. He now lives in Bath (UK) where he writes fiction, non-fiction, film scripts and stage plays. His biographical memoir, Godfrey's Ghost, is published by Mogzilla Life; his short stories have been read at Rattle Tales, Liars' League and The Story Tales; others have been published by Arachne Press, Ariadne's Thread, Barbaric Yawp, The Linnet's Wings, Litro Magazine and Tears in the Fence. www.nicolasridley.co.uk

Julie Wittes Schlack's work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous journals, including Shenandoah, The Writer's Chronicle, The Alembic, The Literary Review, The Louisville Review, Phoebe, Sanskrit, South Carolina Review, The Ledge, Ninth Letter, Dos Passos Review, The Rambler, Saint Ann's Review, Eleven Eleven, The Monarch Review, Tampa Review, Talking River, The Yalobusha Review, and War, Literature & the Arts. She leads research and innovation for an online community company, and is a graduate of Lesley University's MFA program in Creative Writing. jwschlack@verizon.net

Residing in Cypress, Texas, David-Glen Smith teaches English Literature at both Wharton County Junior College and Lone Star College - CyFair. Smith's work has appeared in various print and online magazines. He received his MFA at Vermont College, and his MA at the University of MO at St. Louis. Currently, he and his partner of fourteen years have welcomed a baby boy into their lives. davidglensmith.blogspot.com

Barbara Buckman Strasko is the author of two collections of poetry: Graffiti in Braille (2012) and a chapbook On the Edge of Delicate Day (2008). She was the first Poet Laureate of Lancaster County (PA). Her poems have appeared in Best New Poets, Rhino, Poet Lore, Brilliant Corners, Ninth Letter and Nimrod. Strasko was the 2009 Teacher of the Year for River of Words, a national environmental poetry and art contest for youth. bstrasko@comcast.net

Sue Ellen Thompson is the author of five books of poetry and the editor of The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry. Her work has been included in the Best American Poetry series, read on National Public Radio by Garrison Keillor, and featured in U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser's nationally syndicated newspaper column. Since moving from Connecticut to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2006, she has been a mentor to adult poets and an instructor at The Writer's Center in Bethesda and Annapolis. In 2010, she received the Maryland Author Prize. The three featured poems in this issue are from her new book, They, just out from Turning Point. iambic@aol.com

K.D. Wallis' first poem, "The Cows," was written at the age of eight on a vintage Smith Corona typewriter. Both the poem and the typewriter are long gone, but the writing has never stopped. Multi-lingual, K.D. sees the world from a slightly different angle than most. A lifelong resident of L.A., K.D. has been studying for several years with Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Al Martinez, who brings out the creative best in all who cross his path. "Martita's Shoes" is dedicated to the real Marta Max, who lived this story half a century ago and approved the very minor embellishments. schreiberinkdw@gmail.com