Saima Afreen's works appear in Kenyon Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Barely South Review, The Bellingham Review, The Roanoke Review, The Oklahoma Review, and The Notre Dame Review, among others. She is the author of Sin of Semantics (Copper Coin) and a poetry chapbook Winter Biomythography (Press 254). She was a Charles Wallace Fellow at the University of Kent, UK. saima.academia@gmail.com

Rachel Aguirre is a Spanish teacher and associate editor for fws: journal of literature & art. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Passages North, On the Seawall, and Glass: A Journal of Poetry. In her free time, she likes to locate the resident swan in the small, nearby lake. rachuleta.aguirre@gmail.com

Deborah Bacharach is the author of Shake & Tremor (Grayson Books, 2021) and After I Stop Lying (Cherry Grove Collections, 2015). Her work has recently appeared in Poetry East, Last Syllable, One Art and Grist among many other journals, and she has received a Pushcart prize honorable mention. She is a poetry reader for SWWIM and Whale Road Review. deborahbacharach.com

Josh Cook's writing has appeared in the Virginia Quarterly Review, The Washington Post, The Iowa Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere, and his fiction has earned him a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant. He received an MFA from Pacific University, and he lives in Saint Paul with his wife, daughter, and the sweetest rescue dog of all time. cook.joshuap@gmail.com

Joe Cottonwood is a general contractor, licensed and bonded, who has repaired hundreds of houses to support his unlicensed no-guarantee poems in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. His latest books of poetry are Foggy Dog and Random Saints. joecottonwood.com

Mark Danowsky is Editor-in-Chief of ONE ART: a journal of poetry and Poetry Craft Essays Editor for Cleaver Magazine. He is the author of five poetry books, most recently Take Care (Moon Tide Press, 2025). His recent poems have appeared in MacQueen's Quinterly, Right Hand Pointing, Mobius: The Journal of Social Change, Shot Glass Journal, Red Eft Review, and The New Verse News. markdanowsky.substack.com/

Stephanie Golden is a freelance book author, ghostwriter, journalist, and book doctor in Brooklyn, NY. Her book The Women Outside: Meanings and Myths of Homelessness (University of California Press) was a finalist for the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and received Honorable Mention, Emily Toth Award (Women's Caucus, American Culture Association). She's also author of Slaying the Mermaid: Women and the Culture of Sacrifice (Harmony Books) and has written eight books with expert collaborators. Her essays have appeared in The Startup, Aeon, Salon, Tricycle, Curator Magazine, The Manifest-Station, and Dorothy Parker's Ashes. This is her first published work of fiction. stephaniegolden.net/writing_blog/

Twelve years ago, Alice Kinerk planted bamboo in her front yard, despite neighbors who claimed she'd regret it once it grew out of control. It has grown out of control, but she hasn't regretted it yet. Alice has published dozens of stories. alicekinerk.com

Michael Lauchlan's work has appeared in New England Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The North American Review, Louisville Review, Poet Lore, Lake Effect, and elsewhere. His most recent collection is Trumbull Ave. (Wayne State University Press, 2015). Running Lights is forthcoming in 2026 from Cornerstone Press. mlauchlan@gmail.com

Benjamin Niespodziany is a Chicago-based writer, editor, curator, and folklorist. The author of two books, he has published his work in Indiana Review, Booth, Bennington Review, Conduit, Fence, and elsewhere. Along with hosting the Neon Night Mic reading series, he recently launched Piżama Press, with the first release (a poetry book by Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi) out now. neonpajamas.com

Shyla Ann Shehan received her MFA from the University of Nebraska where she received an Academy of American Poets Prize. Her work has appeared in The Pinch, Moon City Review, Door is a Jar Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Inverted Syntax, Drunk Monkeys, and elsewhere. She's co-founder and curator of The Good Life Review and lives in Omaha with her husband, children, and three cats. shylashehan.com

Sara Winslow is a repenting (a.k.a. retired) government lawyer turned creative writer. Her short stories and essays have appeared in several literary journals and anthologies. Sara lives in San Francisco. She has visited all fifty states and is working on the seven continents (two to go). instagram.com/winslow_writing/