Issue 85 Contributors
a. m. dobles is a student of life. Armed with a Master’s degree in Biological Sciences, she enjoys capturing experiences through her photography and writing. You can find her at amdobles.com.
Zoë Fay-Stindt (she/Z/they) is a queer, bicontinental poet with roots in both the French and American south. Their poetry has appeared in museum galleries, on the radio, on the streets of small towns, in community farm newsletters, and other strange and wonderful places. Z’s work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and has been featured or is forthcoming in SWWIM, RHINO, Muzzle, VIDA, Ninth Letter, and elsewhere.
Jessica Lynne Furtado is an artist in multiple mediums & a librarian. Her visual work has been featured in Muzzle Magazine, PANK, & Waxwing, and her writing has appeared in apt, Stirring, & VIDA Review. Her debut poetry chapbook A Kiss for the Misbehaved is forthcoming from BatCat Press. Visit Jess at www.jessicafurtado.com.
Xiao Gan is a student poet and writer from Singapore who has been published in The Weight Journal and Teen Ink.
Valerie Gilreath lives in north Georgia with her wife and four cats. She is a civic entrepreneur, grant writer, and early literacy advocate. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Chaffin Journal, Sierra Nevada Review, Rio Grande Review, Sand Hills Literary Magazine, and You Might Need to Hear This, among others. Valerie has a MFA from Georgia State University. She and her wife run a bookmobile program in their community.
Beth Goobie is the author of 25 books. A new collection of poetry, Lookin' for Joy, is due out with Exile Editions in 2022. It was gratefully written on an SK Arts grant. Beth lives in Saskatoon.
Elyse Hart is a poet and musician residing in Venice, CA. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Slipstream, The Nervous Breakdown, Okay Donkey Mag, and others. Her music composition Five Poems of Mirabai for Flute and Soprano won top prize at a UNCG competition in 2020. Follow her on Instagram @elysehartpoetry, Soundcloud, and elysehart.com.
Ruth Lehrer is a writer and sign language interpreter living in western Massachusetts. She is the author of the young adult novel, Being Fishkill, the poetry chapbook, Tiger Laughs When You Push, and many other poems out in the wild. Her website is ruthlehrer.com.
Trish Shishikura (宍倉満利耶) is a photographer, creative director, and poet from Tokyo, Japan and currently based in Manila, Philippines. Her poetry has been featured in The Mekong Review, Softblow Literary Journal, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature, Rogue Agent and is forthcoming in Tokyo Poetry Journal and SUSPECT. She was a fellow for poetry in the 52nd Silliman University National Writers Workshop and is the art director for the Philippine literary journal, Ilahás. See her website here: www.trishshishikura.com.
Riayn Spaero is a writer, independent filmmaker, and performance artist. Her work has appeared in or at Autofocus, The Believer, Longreads.com, The Bushwick Daily, and The Columbus International Film + Video Festival. Spaero is reconnecting with African American healing arts and the words and rituals of her grandmother.
Noeme Grace C. Tabor-Farjani Noeme Grace C. Tabor-Farjani has authored Letters from Libya: Memoirs-in-Letters, a chapbook locally published by Bulawan Books (2018) which chronicled her family’s escape from the Second Libyan Civil War in 2014 and a debut collection, The Gospel of Grace: Poems (NewComer Press, UK 2021). Her works have appeared in various literary journals, magazines and online exhibits across the globe. She is also part of charity anthologies: Hair-Raising (Nine Pens Press), Plant People: An Anthology of Environmental Artists (Plants & Poetry Journal), and HerMana: A Radical Re-imagining by Womxn Writers (Regional Arts & Culture Council). She previously taught Translation, Speech and Drama, and Child and Adolescent Literature in Capitol University (where she defended her PhD dissertation on Flow Theory in creative writing pedagogy) and currently teaches Research in the Senior High School department of Saint Mary’s School. She is also a member of Nagkahiusang Magsusulat sa Cagayan de Oro (NAGMAC), an organization of writers from a region in the Philippines where she lives with her husband and four children. Find her at: https://www.facebook.com/gracespills73/.