Contributors

A.R. Arthur (formerly A.R.Salandy) is a Black Mixed-race poet & writer who has spent most of his life in Kuwait jostling between the UK & America. Anthony's work has been published over 240 times internationally. Anthony's Flash Fiction was shortlisted and received an honourable mention in the 2022 The Dillydoun Flash Fiction Prize Competition. Anthony has 3 published chapbooks titled 'The Great Northern Journey' 2020 (Lazy Adventurer Publishing) & 'Vultures' 2021 (Roaring Junior Press) as well as a novel 'The Sands of Change' 2021 (Alien Buddha Press). Anthony's Chapbook 'Half Bred' was the Winner of the 2021 'The Poetry Question' Chapbook contest. Anthony is the EIC of Fahmidan Journal/Publishing & Co, Review Editor at Full House Literary & Poetry Editor at Chestnut Review.
Twitter: @ararthurwriter
Instagram: @ararthurwriter https://ararthurwriter.wordpress.com/

Ace Boggess is author of six books of poetry, including Escape Envy (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2021), I Have Lost the Art of Dreaming It So, and The Prisoners. His writing has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Notre Dame Review, Harvard Review, Mid-American Review, and other journals. An ex-con, he lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where he writes and tries to stay out of trouble.

An Upstate New York native, Adrienne Newcomb is a middle school ELA teacher who writes to process the wild world around her.

Alan Bern, a recently retired children’s librarian, is a poet, storywriter, and photographer with two books of poetry from Fithian Press: No no the saddest (2004) and Waterwalking in Berkeley (2007). His third book of poetry, greater distance (2015), was published by his press, Lines & Faces, a fine press and publisher specializing in illustrated poetry broadsides, collaborating with the artist/printer Robert Woods, linesandfaces.com. IN THE PACE OF THE PATH is Alan’s first full-length hybrid of poetry, prose, and photos, forthcoming from UnCollected Press. Recent awards include: Winner, Saw Palm Poetry Contest (2022); Flash Fiction Finalist, Ekphrastic Sex (2021); and Winner, Littoral Press Poetry Prize (2015). Recent and upcoming writing and photo work in: Haunted Waters Press, Feral, DarkWinter Literary Magazine, and swifts & slows: a quarterly of crosscrossings. Alan is also a published/exhibited photographer and a performer with dancer/choreographer Lucinda Weaver as PACES and with musicians from Composing Together.

Ali Arya grew up in Iran and migrated to Canada for work and study, only to find and raise a family that gave him a new understanding of what he was looking for in life. Ali is a professor of Information Technology at Carleton University, Ottawa, and a geek at heart. He develops games and interactive stories with his students, investigates how people use computers, and have written books and articles in his professional field. He has studied children's story writing at Gotham Writers, and has been a member of the Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for years. Recently, he self-published some of the bedtime stories he made for his son, “the Adventures of Mr. Filio”.

Ali Ashhar is a poet, short story writer and columnist from Jaunpur, India. He is the author of poetry collection, Mirror of Emotions. His works appear in Indian Review, The Raven Review, Bosphorus Review of Books, among others.

Let’s face it, Allison Walters Luther (she/her) is a mess. She grew up in Southern Indiana and has since lived in England, Florida, Southern California, and Washington state. A writer since the age of seven, she has Brain Dragons instead of Plot Bunnies and they frequently battle each other, leaving Allison a weeping, distracted blob. Her use of imagery has been called ‘immersive’ and she often leaves stories open-ended, dashing off into the sunset and cackling “No story is ever really over!” You can learn more about her at allisonwaltersluther.com or reach her on Twitter at @AllisonLuther.

Born in Guinea, Africa in 2001, Amadou (he/him) has always been drawn to stories. Whether it be Breaking Bad, The Last of Us, or Bioshock, he just can’t get enough of great narratives. So much so that it was only natural he’d start writing stories of his own. So when you see him, he’ll either be doing that, listening to great music, playing a dope video game, or passionately arguing about his opinions. It depends on how he feels.

Anastasia Arellano is originally from California but now lives in Dublin, Ireland as a freelance writer. She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, and holds a Master’s in Creative Writing. She’s had short stories published in The Honest Ulsterman, Honey + Lime, The Hellebore, Anti-Heroin Chic, and Dragon Soul Press, as well as some poetry published in Smithereen’s Press. She recently completed her first solo YA novel which is now making the querying rounds. When she’s not writing, she’s cooking, plastering her bedroom walls in storyboards, or seeking inspiration from the Irish landscape. You can follow her on Instagram @writeranastasia26 and Twitter @AnastasiaArell5

Aneeka Usman is a teacher, a writer, a mom, and a realtor from Chattanooga TN. She teaches first-year college writing at Dalton State College. Previously, her work has been published in Litro magazine.

Angela Hinton is teacher, public servant and published author. Her French prose poems, "Soltices, Équinoxes” appeared in the literary review, Trois. Peinture. Punctuation. Vol. 9, No. 3, Spring-Summer, 1994.

Ann Privateer grew up in the Midwest where she began writing poetry in her late teens. She now resides in Northern California. Some of her recent work has appeared in Voices 2022, Sacramento Voices 2018, and Wild Edges to name a few.

Anne Mikusinski has been writing poetry and short stories since she was seven years old and most probably making them up long before she could hold a pen or pencil in her hand. She finds inspiration in music and art, and sometimes, even little things that happen every day. Her influences range from Robert Frost and Dylan Thomas to David Byrne and Nick Cave, and she hopes one day, her work will inspire others in the same way these writers have been a true inspiration on her.

Author of two books of poetry: Surfacing (2018) and What the Owl Taught Me (2020), both published by Lapwing Poetry. What the Owl Taught Me was Poetry Kit’s Book of the Month in June 2020 and one of North of Oxford’s summer reading recommendations in 2020. Annest has been widely published in literary journals and anthologies, both online and in print, and placed in several writing competitions, winning one. She was the editor of the webzine Nine Muses Poetry from 2018-2020. She was a nominee for Best of the Net 2021. Her third book of poetry – Seasons in the Sun – is forthcoming from Gwasg Carreg Gwalch in early September 2023.

Annette Dekker is gradually working toward retirement from her four plus decades of work as a couple and family therapist, so that she can spend more time playing with words. She also takes great delight in spending time with her grandchildren and in taking photographs while walking with her partner of almost 50 years on uptown sidewalks, trails in Waterloo or when traveling in Canada and across oceans.

Ashley Marilynne Wong graduated with a degree in English with Creative Writing from the University of Nottingham. In 2021, she won the YOUth of Tomorrow writing competition organised by the human rights NGO Empower, with her poem ‘Six Ways to Expose Your Daughter to Domestic Abuse’. Her poem ‘Wakeful Words’ has appeared in the literary ezine Spillwords. She reads for at least about three hours daily.

Azaria Camargo (she/her) is a slightly unhinged but fun-loving wordsmith. She loves crafting poetry that disrupts conventional ideals of literature and art. When Azaria isn’t dreaming of new ways to disturb readers, she enjoys caring for her pet chickens and ducks at her humble home in Melbourne, Australia. You can find more of Azaria’s dabbling on Instagram @azariacamargo

Barbara Anna Gaiardoni is an Italian pedagogist and author. Winner of the First Prize in the 2023 “Zheng Nian Cup National Literature Price. She began writing Japanese-style poems in 2019 and since has been published in Asahi Haikuist Network, Haiku Dialogue THF,The Japan Society UK, Drifting Sands Haibun and seventy - eight other international journals. Her works are been translated on Japanese, Romanian, Arabic, Malayalam, Hindi, French and in Spanish languages. Drawing, swimming and walking in nature are her passions. Her motto is "I can, I must, I will do it.”

Basiliké Pappa lives in Greece. She is a translator, a copy editor, the mother of a dog and the partner of a fire-star. She writes fairytale and myth retellings, poetry, short stories sometimes. If she is not at home, I don’t know where she is. But you may find her work in Dead Fern Press, Heron Tree, Carmina Magazine, Timeless Tales, Ubu., DarkWinter Literary Magazine, Sledgehammer Lit, Glitchwords, Punk Noir and other journals, as well as in the anthologies Hidden in Childhood (Literary Revelations, 2023), Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (Experiments in Fiction, 2022) and Shaping Water: Erotic Haiku and Tanka (Moth Orchid Press, 2022).

Bill Flanagan is a digital artist living in the mountains of Southern California. Occasionally he enjoys contriving a flash fiction work inspired by a long life blithely spent. A few have been published online.

Bill Garvey's poetry has been published or is forthcoming in several journals including Cimarron Review, Rattle, New Verse News, Quiddity, Margie, Nixes Mate Review, The Worcester Review, 5AM, Slant, Concho River Review, New York Quarterly, Cloud Lake Literary and The Amethyst Review. Finishing Line Press published Bill's chapbook, The Burden of Angels, in 2007.

Bill Howell, one of the original Storm Warning poets, has had a literary career spanning five
decades. With five collections to his credit, his work appears regularly in journals and
anthologies across Canada, in the UK, Australia, Sweden, and the United States. Born in
Liverpool, England, he grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has lived in Toronto for more
than half his life. Bill was a network producer-director at CBC Radio Drama for three
decades. Ranging from the lyrical to the ironic, his poetry deploys colloquial language,
deliberate narrative, and a sharp sense of the focused moment.

Bojana Stojcic teaches mostly high school and college English and is notorious for making her students laugh. A little nonsense now and then is all they sometimes need to make it through the day. Ftr she’s not saying let’s go kill all the stupid, unnecessary people, somehow hoping the issue will sort itself out. If you ask her, though, the only thing worth killing, at least for now, is the powerful gun lobby.

Braden Matthew holds a BA in Religious Studies and a MA in Philosophy at McMaster University and is currently completing a MA in Psychotherapy at The University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where he lives with his partner and child. A Canadian-born writer living in Edinburgh, the fiction he writes is often set within cold and wet climates. He has also worked as a journalistic writer for two universities in Canada. He has published two short stories in The Nassau Literary Review and Quibble Literary Journal.

Brahmani is a Indian based writer in the United States of America. She loves writing and reading short stories and poetry and is planning on majoring in communications. In her free time, she plays the piano and loves to watch stand up comedy.

Brandon Everett is a fiction and non-fiction writer. The genres he writes include: science-fiction, paranormal, noir, thriller, and the supernatural. He is the author of the novel The Undoubtedly True Narrative of the Yetiman, and the short story collection Release the Kaizen! Stories and Poems from an Evolving Writer. His works have been featured in THE CHABOT REVIEW and LIVINA PRESS. Everett graduated with a master's in English from California State University East Bay and currently serves as the Administrative Support Coordinator for Cal State East Bay's Student Center for Academic Achievement. He was born and raised in the Bay Area and resides there still to this day with his wife, Cristina.

Brian Michael Barbeito is a Canadian poet, writer, and photographer. Recent work appears
at The Notre Dame Review.

Britany Schaffer is a native New Mexican living the dream in Colorado. Her day job is a criminal defense lawyer, but she writes short stories and essays to stay sane. She has two amazing dogs, who inspire her daily, and she spends all her time outside of the courtroom outside.

Bruce McRae, a Canadian musician, is a multiple Pushcart nominee with poems published in hundreds
of magazines such as Poetry, Rattle and the North American Review. The winner of the 2020 Libretto
prize and author of four poetry collections and seven chapbooks, his poems have been performed and
broadcast globally.

Raised on a rice and catfish farm in eastern Arkansas, CL Bledsoe is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the poetry collections Riceland, The Bottle Episode, and his newest, Driving Around, Looking in Other People's Windows, as well as his latest novels Goodbye, Mr. Lonely and The Saviors. Bledsoe lives in northern Virginia with his daughter.

Cadeem Lalor is a Jamaican-Canadian writer. His short story “Memory Catcher” was published by Idle Ink on August 1st. He has since had three more short stories published, “Embers,” “Feed” and “Pet Stalker.”

Caleb is a librarian and aspiring writer that can be seen haunting the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. When he's not in the swamplands or raising his chickens, he can be found masquerading the streets as a superhero. Twitter: octoleal

Calla Smith has been writing since a child, and her early publishing career included several published poems in “Dream Girl” magazine as a teenager. More recently she has self-published her collection of short stories “What Doesn’t Kill You”, and her work has appeared in several literary journals.

CANDICE KELSEY [she/her] is a poet, educator, and activist currently living in Augusta, Georgia. She serves as a creative writing mentor with PEN America's Prison & Justice Writing Program; her work appears in Grub Street, Poet Lore, Lumiere Review, Hawai'i Pacific Review, and Poetry South among other journals. Recently, Candice was chosen as a finalist in Iowa Review's Poetry Contest and Cutthroat's Joy Harjo Poetry Prize. Her third book releases September '22. Find her @candicekelsey1 and www.candicemkelseypoet.com.

Carys Crossen has been writing stories since she was nine years old and shows no signs of stopping. Her fiction has been published by Lunate, Halfway Down the Stairs, FlashBack Fiction, Honey and Lime Lit and others, and her monograph The Nature of the Beast is available from University of Wales Press. She lives in Manchester UK with her husband, their daughter and their beautiful, contrary cat.

Cecilia Kennedy (she/her) taught English composition/literature and Spanish language/literature in Ohio for 20 years before moving to Washington state with her family, which includes a very demanding cat. Since 2017, she has published her stories in literary journals, magazines, and anthologies in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and England. Her work has appeared in Maudlin House, Coffin Bell, Idle Ink, Tiny Molecules, Streetcake Magazine, Wrongdoing Magazine, Rejection Letters, Open Minds Quarterly, Headway Quarterly, Flash Fiction Magazine, Kandisha Press, Ghost Orchid Press, and others. The Places We Haunt (2020) is her first short story collection. Additionally, she thoroughly enjoys being a volunteer adult beverages columnist for The Daily Drunk, a proofreader for Flash Fiction Magazine, and a concept editor for Running Wild Press. Twitter: @ckennedyhola

Cecily Ross is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, The New York Times, Zoomer, Chatelaine, The Literary Review of Canada, ON Nature and other publications. Her novel, The Lost Diaries of Susanna Moodie, is published by HarperCollins Canada. A memoir, Love in the Time of Cholesterol, is published by Viking Canada. She lives and writes in Creemore, Ontario.

Ceinwen Cariad Haydon lives near Newcastle upon Tyne, UK and writes short stories and poetry. She is widely published in online magazines and in print anthologies. Her first chapbook is 'Cerddi Bach' [Little Poems], Hedgehog Press, July 2019. Post-retirement from social work, she is developing practice as participatory arts facilitator. She believes everyone's voice counts.

Celia Lisset Alvarez is a writer and educator from Miami, Florida. She has four collections of poetry, Shapeshifting (winner of the 2005 Spire Press Poetry Award), The Stones (Finishing Line Press 2006), Multiverses (Finishing Line Press 2021) and the upcoming Bodies & Words (Assure Press 2022). Her stories and poetry have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, most recently in Last Leaves Magazine, dyst, and Blue Mountain Review. She was also the editor of the literary journal Prospectus.

Charles Rammelkamp’s latest poetry collection, The Field of Happiness, has just been published by Kelsay Books. Rammelkamp is Prose Editor for BrickHouse Books. He contributes a monthly book review to North of Oxford and is a frequent reviewer for The Lake, London Grip and The Compulsive Reader. A collection of flash fiction, Presto!, will be published in 2023 by Bamboo Dart Press.

Charlotte Rahme is an Ottawa local writer inspired by history, archaeology, and the interesting people she meets. She has been published in Common Deer Press and North Literary Journal.

Cheryl Snell's poetry collections include chapbooks from Finishing Line Press, Pudding House, and Moira Books. A full length volume, Prisoner’s Dilemma, in collaboration with the late expressionist artist Janet Snell, won the Lopside Press Chapbook Competition. Cheryl’s work has appeared often, online and in print, and has been nominated seven times for the Pushcart and Best of the Net anthologies. Her collection of novels is called Bombay Trilogy, about the India diaspora. She lives with her husband in Maryland, twelve miles from the Capitol.

Chris Klassen lives and writes in Toronto, Canada. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in history and living for a year in France and England, he returned home and worked the majority of his career in print media. He is now living a semi-retired life, writing and looking for new ideas. His work has appeared in Short Circuit, Unlikely Stories, Across the Margin, Fleas on the Dog, Vagabond City, Dark Winter, Literally Stories and Ghost City Review.

Christina Chin is from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. She writes haiku, short poems, paints for art exhibitions, creates meaningful short videos of her poems and art. She has haiku, haiga, senryu, tanka and gogyoshi featured and published both in print and online with several reputable anthologies and journals.

Christina Hennemann, shortlisted for our 1st Anniversary Contest, is a poet and prose writer based in Ireland. Her poetry pamphlet “Illuminations at Nightfall” was published by Sunday Mornings at the River in 2022. She’s the winner of the Luain Press Prize, was shortlisted in the Anthology Poetry Award, and longlisted in the National Poetry Competition. Her work appears in The Moth, fifth wheel, Ink Sweat & Tears, Moria, National Poetry Month Canada, and elsewhere. Twitter: @chr_writer Instagram: @c.h_92 www.christinahennemann.com

A former university instructor, Christine Overall has published books, book chapters, and journal articles in philosophy. Contrary to the expectations of her discipline, some of her publications are based on her experiences as a disabled woman, a mother, and an academic in a field dominated by men. For more than a decade she wrote a weekly column called "In Other Words" for the Kingston Whig-Standard. She is now working on the fifth draft of her memoir, an exploration of the risks, in her life, of choosing to have children and the choice whether to be a care giver. She is also writing short creative non-fiction essays and short fiction.

Originally from Corner Brook Newfoundland and Labrador, Christopher Butt, shortlisted for our 1st Anniversary Contest, is a retired member of the Canadian Forces navigating his way to a life of being a writer. His genres include Science Fiction, Fantasy, weird fiction and the occasional humorous piece. He lives in St. Catharines, and you can find his work on his Wattpad page under the name “Buttster”. His short story collection In The Lair Of The Kraken is forthcoming from DarkWinter Press

Christopher Sworen is an aspiring writer currently living in Poland.

Christopher Waldrop is a writer and library assistant living in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and a horde of wild Dalmatians. He's had work published in the anthologies Static Dreams Volume 2, Feathers 1, a collection of poems about birds, as well as in Unstamatic Magazine, DarkWinterLit, and elsewhere.

Clara Burghelea is a Romanian-born poet with an MFA in Poetry from Adelphi University. Recipient of the Robert Muroff Poetry Award, her poems and translations appeared in Ambit, Waxwing, The Cortland Review and elsewhere. Her second poetry collection Praise the Unburied was published with Chaffinch Press in 2021. She is Review Editor of Ezra, An Online Journal of Translation.