Kim D. Brandon is a Poet/Artist/Activist/Storyteller. Her work has been included in stage performances, anthologies, and journals. She is a 2021 Brooklyn Poets’ Poet of the Week, and a VONA alum. Her poem “Love On the Front Line” was nominated for Best Of the Net. She has attended Women of Color Writers, Wild Seed Retreats and Cave Canem Writers Workshops.

Rayshell E. Clapper lives and loves in Martinez, CA, where she spends her time with words as a writer and a Professor of English at Diablo Valley College. She began her teaching career in 2002 and has found her dream job at DVC. She’s deeply involved with the literary community of her campus bringing authors to read, hosting the biannual Literature Week, and planning mini-workshops for creative writers. She loves teaching about the power of words, helping students tap into that power, and spreading her enthusiasm for writing and reading.

Michelle Lindsey has been writing professionally since she was 14. She has worked as a staff writer, columnist, feature writer and freelancer for newspapers and magazines. When she was 10, she interviewed President (then Governor) Bill Clinton for a small local newspaper of which she was the founder, publisher and editor. When she was 16, she won an international essay contest in USA Today. Her short stories have won awards in multiple contests.

Becky Houston is a former social worker turned poet who has been scribbling angsty musings in corners with night lights since she was a little girl. Her poetry explores themes of mental health, desire, sexuality, relationships, motherhood, feminism, and social justice. Her poem “Cold Floors and Blueberry Bread” was published in the anthology Song of Ourself: Voices in Unison, which was awarded the Bronze Medal for General Fiction/Literature in the 2020 Living Now Book Awards.

A. Drzal writes raw, honest poetry that carries the themes that have defined his own life: addiction, recovery, love, intimacy, trauma, healing, gratitude, and hope. When he's not writing, he's working as a public school teacher or playing music with his band. He lives in New York City with his fiancé and is currently working on his second poetry collection.

Louise Nayer has written two books of poetry and co-authored How to Bury a Goldfish about rituals for everyday life (Rodale). The award-winning Burned: A Memoir, an Oprah great read and winner of The Wisconsin Library Association Award in memoir, is a family story about a gas explosion in Cape Cod that burned her parents when she was four years old. She is also the author of Poised for Retirement: Moving from Anxiety to Zen and Narrow Escapes, her latest memoir.

I was born in Russia in a small town in the Kirov region. Ever since I was a child, I have loved creating something new. In 2009, I graduated from school in a small village and moved to study in the center of the region. In 2014, I graduated from the university with a degree in Organization of Work with Youth. After several years of working in different positions, I decided that I could no longer just keep dreaming that it was time to see the world.

Linda Joy Walder has written poetry in her mind daily since childhood. Her debut collection of poems, Running Naked in the Snow, is deeply rooted in a lifetime of magical and mournful occurrences.

Jeanne Savelle is a wine writer, who also dabbles in creative non-fiction, short fiction, and poetry. Her past lives include life and retirement coaching and a long international finance career. She loves travel, nature, wine, and reading and lives in the Atlanta, GA, area with her husband.

Carrigan Richards, a native of Cullman, Alabama, discovered her passion for weaving imaginative tales early on. She is a graduate of Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia and received her Master of Arts in professional writing from Kennesaw State. Carrigan expertly merges reality and fiction to delve into life's complexities. Her vibrant characters and thought-provoking narratives showcase a talent for captivating storytelling. Carrigan loves hiking, concerts, furbaby play with Ella and Ozzie, and fervently supports the Atlanta Braves.