Janet is a multi-genre artist and design consultant. She’s a shining example of turning challenges into opportunities. Being creative to the core, her inspiration comes from nature and she’s following the urge within to dwell in the quiet stillness she has come to know. It is here that the words come—expressed through her writing, poetry, photography or art. She knows she is here to make a difference and help others get through the suffering and learn how to soar.

Originally from Penang, Malaysia, I came to the United States on a full scholarship to attend Wellesley College. Without the scholarship, I would not have become a doctor. I was a Harvard Medical physician in the Boston area. In 2006 I left my position as a full-time professor of medicine dedicating part of my time to humanitarian work;in HIV/AIDS and aiding in disaster relief in various parts of the world, including the Ebola outbreak, the Syrian, Rohingya refugee crises, the war in Yemen, and the COVID-19 pandemic in New York and the Navajo Nation. I am a three-time recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award. My work has appeared in peer-reviewed professional journals, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, The Infectious Society of America Science Speaks, MedPage Today, Balloon Literary Journal, Literally Stories, Vine Leave Press, Synapses, and others. I am the author of Lest We Forget: A Doctor’s Experience with Life and Death During the Ebola Outbreak, Into Africa, Out of Academia: A Doctor's Memoir, and The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly.

Lahari Mahalanabish (Chatterji) is a writer and poet from Kolkata, India and currently based in Sydney. She is the author of the recently published short story collection Tales of the Anointed Skeletons and Love (Ukiyoto Publishing) and One Hundred Poems (Writers Workshop, 2007). Tales of the Anointed Skeletons and Love was nominated for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2023.

I am from Toronto Canada, I love creative writing and have been writing for most of my life. I write poetry, short stories, children's story book, and I have some novels in progress. I have won several prestigious awards and honour for my work in the education community.

M.J. Schwartz lives in Longmeadow, MA, with their wife, Jena, and bulldog, Chalupa Jane Schwartz, Esq. They are a graduate of Smith College, with a B.A. in psychology. Their essays have appeared in The Hong Kong Review and Ghost Girls. M.J. was the 2023 recipient of the Gertrude Posner Spencer Prize for Excellence in Nonfiction Writing, as well as the Gertrude Posner Spencer Prize for Excellence in Fiction Writing, through the English department at Smith College, and the 2024 recipient of the Tryon Prize in Writing through the Smith College Art Museum.

Kimberly Hockaday is a poet and author from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and is the 2014 Distinguished Student Poet of Eastern North Carolina. She created a monthly poetry reading gathering called Poetry Reading Extravaganza in 2013 and has had her works published in newspapers and literary magazines.

As both a passionate reader and writer, I'm at my happiest when I'm not confined to the real world, either a novel or a pen clasped in my hands. I'm a fan of pretty much every fictional genre, from YA to poetry. At fourteen, I had published a children's book of twenty-five short stories, yet I haven't really received much recognition as an author—not on a significant scale, that is. I'm currently entering myself into as many writing competitions as possible, hoping to slide the spotlight onto my work, to inspire others to chase after their dreams no matter their circumstances. There's nothing that would hurt me quite as badly as to witness others—especially the youth—wasting their time by daydreaming instead of doing what God intended them to do. I pray that I may reach success and that my generation would follow suit.

Jacob Mical is an author, reader, and avid Arsenal fan. My love affair with literature began, like so many others, by reading The Lord of the Rings. Storytelling is second nature to me and hearing others' stories has always inspired my creative tendencies. My published work includes: The Death of Kale, Into the Ink, and Invia. If just one person feels the wonder and magic my favorite stories have inspired in me because of my work, then my literary journey will be worth every moment.

Jessica McCann is a historical novelist and has worked more than 30 years as a professional writer for magazines, universities, corporations, and other organizations. One of her earliest assignments as a freelancer was covering a new surgical radiation technique for destroying brain tumors, during which she was permitted to don scrubs and observe inside the operating room. Since then, her reporting and creative nonfiction has appeared in dozens of magazines.

Melissa is a Liverpool-based writer and spoken word artist, originally from Ireland. Her main area of interest is historical fiction and contemporary drama. Melissa also holds a First Class MA in Writing from Liverpool John Moores University, along with a First Class BA in Dance from Liverpool Hope University. Previously, she has been published with the University of Oxford’s “Oxford Scientist” and with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres “Love Liverpool”. After winning WOW’s Pulp Idol 2021, a competition with judges from Harper North (an imprint of HarperCollins), Melissa has completed her debut novel, Cabbage Babies, and her first poetry collection, Everything Grows When You Bury It, both of which are in the process of querying for publication.