Issue 21 Contributors' Bios

A German-born UK national, Rose Mary Boehm now lives and works in Lima, Peru. Two novels and a poetry collection (TANGENTS) have been published in the UK. Her latest poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in US poetry reviews. Among others: Toe Good Poetry, Poetry Breakfast, Burning Word, Muddy River Review, Pale Horse Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Other Rooms, Requiem Magazine, Full of Crow, Poetry Quarterly, Punchnel’s, Verse Wisconsin, AVATAR... 

Sara Clancy graduated from the Writer's Program at the University of Wisconsin long ago. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in various journals such as Avatar Review, The Smoking Poet, The Madison Review, Verse Wisconsin, Untitled Country Review, Poetry Breakfast, Owen Wister Review and Houseboat, where she was a featured poet. She is a transplant from Philadelphia to the Desert Southwest where she lives with her husband, their dog and a 22 year old goldfish named Darryl.

Ashley Fisher is a UK-based poet. He runs the Fresh Ink Open Mic nights in Hull, East Yorkshire, co-edits the poetry magazine Turbulence, edits The English Chicago Review and runs community poetry workshops. His poetry has been published in magazines and journals on three continents. His first chapbook, Dead Crabs, was published by Fire Hazard in 2011. He can be found at www.ashleyfisher.co.uk.

Rick Hartwell is a retired middle school (remember, the hormonally-challenged?) English teacher living in Moreno Valley, California.  He believes in the succinct, that the small becomes large; and, like the Transcendentalists and William Blake, that the instant contains eternity.  Given his “druthers,” if he’s not writing poetry, Rick would rather still be tailing plywood in a mill in Oregon.

Annie Kim is a high school student currently residing in Cerritos, California. She enjoys art and writing, mixing words like colors on a palette.

Robert Laughlin lives in Chico, California. He has published 100 short stories, 200 poems and one novel, Vow of Silence. He is the founder of the Micro Award for flash fiction, and two of his longer stories are storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories. His website is at www.pw.org/content/robert_laughlin.

Denny E. Marshall has no art education or training, has never won or been nominated for an award, and has never had art shown in a gallery, public or private. After all the years still enjoys drawing by hand or computer. Has had art & poetry recently rejected and some recently published such as poetry in August 2012 issue of Yes, Poetry, cover art in the April 2012 issue of Eclectic Eel and art in Decades Review #4.

Burgess Needle’s work has appeared in: Black Market Review (UK), Connotation Press, 10,000 Tons of Black Ink, Blackbox Manifold (UK), Concho River Review, Raving Dove, Boston Literary Magazine, Istanbul Literary Review[Turkey], Decanto (UK), Centrifugal Eye, Iodine, Prick of the Spindle, The Camel Saloon, Flutter, Origami Condom, Ken*Again, Under the Radar [UK] Kritya (India), Prism Review, Snow Monkey, Brittle Star (UK), Gutter Eloquence,  Blue Lake Review, Eunoia Review, Minotaur, Nutshell Magazine (UK), Clockwise Cat, DeComp Magazine,  Peacock on-line Review, and Red Fez.  Diminuendo Press published his poetry collection: EVERY CROW IN THE BLUE SKY. @. 2009. He taught English for two years in Nang Rong, a small village in northeast Thailand for the Peace Corps, been a co-director of the Southern Arizona Writing Project, co-published and edited Prickly Pear/Tucson [a poetry quarterly] for five years and was a school librarian for thirty years. He lives in Tucson with his wife, Barbara.

Sy Roth - He comes riding in and then canters out. Oftentimes, the head is bowed by reality; other times, he is proud to have said something noteworthy. cRetired after forty-two years as teacher/school administrator, he now resides in Mount Sinai, far from Moses and the tablets. This has led him to find words for solace.  He spends his time writing and playing his guitar. He has published in many online publications such as Wilderness Interface Zone, Red Ochre,  Bong is Bard, Danse Macabre, Mel BraKe Press, Larks Fiction Magazine, Exercise Bowler, Otoliths, BlogNostics, Every Day Poets, brief, The Weekenders, The Squawk Back, Bareback Magazine, Dead Snakes, Bitchin’ Kitsch, Peripheral Surveys,  Scapegoat Review, The Artistic Muse, Inclement, Napalm and Novocain, Euphemism, Humanimalz Literary Journal, Ascent Aspirations, Fowl Feathered Review, Vayavya, Wilderness House Journal, Aberration Labyrinth, Mindless(Muse), Em Dash, Subliminal Interiors, South Townsville Micropoetry Journal, The Penwood Review, The Rampallian, Vox Poetica, Clutching at Straws, Downer Magazine, Full of Crow, Abisinth Literary Review, Every Day Poems, Avalon Literary Review, Napalm and Novocaine, Wilderness House Literary Review, St. Elsewhere Journal, Carcinogenic Poetry, The Neglected Ratio, Windmills Magazine and Kerouac’s Dog.  One of his poems, Forsaken Man, was selected for Best of 2012 poems in Storm Cycle.  Also selected Poet of the Month in Poetry Super Highway, September 2012.  His work was also read at Palimpsest Poetry Festival in December 2012. He was named Poet of the Month for the month of February in BlogNostics. Included in Poised in Flight anthology published by Kind of Hurricane Press, March 2013. 

Danny Earl Simmons is an Oregonian and a proud graduate of Corvallis High School. He is a friend of the Linn-Benton Community College Poetry Club and an active member of Albany Civic Theater. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in various journals such as Naugatuck River Review, Avatar Review, Burningword, Pirene’s Fountain, and Verse Wisconsin.

Michelle Wang is a student who is part of the creative writing community at Cerritos High School. Her inspiration comes from imagination with experience. Having written most of her works fictionally, writing a bio, is not her forte.

Issue 20 Contributors' Bios

Nina Bennett is the author of Forgotten Tears A Grandmother’s Journey Through Grief. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Nina's work has been nominated for the Best of the Net 2012.

Ariana D. Den Bleyker is a Pittsburgh native currently residing in a small town in New York where she is a wife and mother of two. Ariana is the author of the chapbooks, Forgetting Aesop (Bandini Books, LLC, 2011) and Naked Animal (Flutter Press, 2012) and the full length collection, The Trees are on Fire (ALL CAPS PUBLISHING, 2012). When she is not writing, she can be found editing Emerge Literary Journal or at www.arianaddenbleyker.com.

Rose Mary Boehm, a German-born UK national, now lives and works in Lima, Peru. Two novels and a poetry collection (TANGENTS) have been published in the UK. Her latest poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in US poetry reviews. Among others: Toe Good Poetry, Poetry Breakfast, Burning Word, Muddy River Review, Pale Horse Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Other Rooms, Requiem Magazine, Full of Crow, Poetry Quarterly, Punchnel’s, Verse Wisconsin, AVATAR... She is the creative eye behind the cover photos. Her photography can be found at http://www.bilderboehm.blogspot.com.

Chris Castle is an English teacher in Greece and has been published over 300 times. He is a fan of Ray Carver, Stephen King and PT Anderson. He can be reached at chriscastle76@hotmail.com for feedback.

David Chorlton was born in Austria, grew up in England, and spent several years in Vienna before moving to Phoenix in1978. He pursued his visual art and had several shows as well as writing and publishing his poetry in magazines and collections, the latest of which is The Devil’s Sonata from FutureCycle Press. Reading copies of very old Arizona newspapers helped bring out some of the detail for the poem on the Phoenix past.

Emma Coates is an English writer whose work ranges from short stories, to novels and scripts. She started writing from an early age, and hasn't stopped since. She is currently working on a novel.

Joan Colby is widely published in journals such as Poetry, Atlanta Review, Gargoyle, etc. Her latest book "Dead Horses" is just out from Future Cycle Press.

Matt David, like most people with two first names, is a superhero. He is generally rude and dismissive of those without special powers and likes to brag about the time he saved a tree from a cat. He lives by the lake on Chicago's north side.

Joseph Farley edited Axe Factory from 1986 to 2010. His books and chapbooks include Suckers, For the Birds, Longing for the Mother Tongue, Waltz of the Meatballs, The True Color of You, and Her Eyes.

Brent Rankin: After having stumbled numerous times like a drunk monkey when younger, Brent Rankin finally decided to walk up-right.  After having published numerous flash fiction pieces in e-zines (Lingustic Erosion, Stars Farther than These, and Dailylove), Brent took his degree in English and wrote his novella, "The fisher man," available on Amazon, Booktango, and other e-book sellers. Brent lives with his antiquated Dell laptop in an alley behind a deserted church in Austin, Texas. 

Robert Strickland is a bassist, composer, and singer who reads books and writes poems, among other things.  He splits his time between Colorado and Florida.  His poetry has appeared in Pale Horse Review, Red Poppy Review, A Handful Of Stones, and Houseboat, where he was recently the featured poet. 

  

Brooke Williams is a registered nurse, a percussionist, and singer from the Denver area.  This is her first published poem.

Sally Zakariya, a former magazine editor, is a freelance writer in Arlington, Virginia. A student of publication design, she has turned out self-published illustrated alphabet books on food, literature, and anatomy. Her collection of poems, Arithmetic and other verses from late in life, was published in 2011 by Richer Resources Publications and is available in print and Kindle formats from Amazon.com. 

Issue 19 Contributor Bios

A German-born UK national, Rose Mary Boehm now lives and works in Lima, Peru. Two novels and a poetry collection (TANGENTS) have been published in the UK. Her latest poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in US poetry reviews. Among others: Toe Good Poetry, Poetry Breakfast, Burning Word, Muddy River Review, Pale Horse Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Other Rooms, Requiem Magazine, Full of Crow, Poetry Quarterly, Punchnel’s, Verse Wisconsin, AVATAR... 

Mike Cluff is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Norco (Community) College in southern California. He recently published his ninth book of poetry Elegant Worry in late 2011. His poetry has also been published recently in Medusa's Kitchen, The Inlandia Journal, San Gabriel Valley Quarterly Poetry Journal and Valley Noir. In the summer of 2012, he co-lead a writer workshop for The Inlandia Institute based in Riverside.

Mitch Grabois’ poetry and short fiction has appeared in over seventy literary magazines, most recently The Examined Life, Memoir Journal, and Haggard and Halloo. His novel, Two-Headed Dog was published in April by Dirt e-books, founded by NY agent Gary Heidt. It can be bought here and here. He was born in the Bronx and now lives in Denver. 

Rick Hartwell is a retired middle school (remember, the hormonially-challenged?) English teacher living in Moreno Valley, California, with his wife of thirty-six years (poor soul, her, not him), their disabled daughter, one of their sons and his ex-wife and their two children, and eleven cats.  Yes, eleven!  He believes in the succinct, that the small becomes large; and, like the Transcendentalists and William Blake, that the instant contains eternity.  Given his “druthers,” if he’s not writing poetry, Rick would rather still be tailing plywood in a mill in Oregon.

Alexander Kenney - I'm a junior in High School taking some writing classes. I wrote a novel and have written several short stories. I love writing as well as other things the average teen likes.

Denny E. Marshall has no art education or training, has never won or been nominated for an award, and has never had art shown in a gallery, public or private. After all the years still enjoys drawing by hand or computer. Has had art & poetry recently rejected and some recently published such as poetry in Autumn 2012 issue of Shelter of Daylight, cover art on the Summer 2012 issue of The Other Herald and art in Star*line 34.4 Oct/Dec 2012. His first article "Rejection Is A Good Thing, Stop Whining." was recently published online on the Eclectic Eel website All About Art page.

Lisa Mrock didn’t want to say.

My name is Mark Plummer. I'm twenty-five and live in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.

Miriam Sagan is the author of twenty-five books, including the poetry collection MAP OF THE POST (University of New Mexico Press.) She founded and directs the creative writing program at Santa Fe Community College. Her blog is Miriam's Well. In 2010, she won the Santa Fe Mayor's award for Excellence in the Arts.

Danny Earl Simmons is an Oregonian and a proud graduate of Corvallis High School. He is a friend of the Linn-Benton Community College Poetry Club and an active member of Albany Civic Theater. A collection of his published poems can be found at dannyearlsimmons.blogspot.com.

Stephanie Lane Sutton is a poet, performer, and arts organizer. Originally from Detroit, she graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2011 with degrees in Poetry and Television Writing. She is a writer-in-residence at the West Side School for the Desperate radical arts collective and has been mentoring slam poets in Chicago Public High Schools for several years. Her poems have appeared in Yes, Poetry Magazine, The Legendary, and The Albion Review, among others. She has performed her work all over the country and was a member of 2012 Mental Graffiti slam team. 

Issue 18 Bios

My name is Anita Babcock and I am 25 years old. I have been accepted for publication by The Eclectic Eel and Life As An... before being accepted by the lovely Toucan. My goal is to touch at least one person with my stories and hopefully a novel in the future. I can be found at http://creativedreams.webs.com/index.htm

Joan Colby is widely published in journals such as Poetry, Atlanta Review, Gargoyle, etc. Her latest book "Dead Horses" is just out from Future Cycle Press.

Amy Ekins is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, a project manager for a publishing company, and is at the time of writing finishing up her MRes in Creative Writing at Northumbria University - for which she was awarded their fee-waiver scholarship. She tweets at @AmyEWrites.

Rick Hartwell is a retired middle school (remember, the hormonially-challenged?) English teacher living in Moreno Valley, California, with his wife of thirty-six years (poor soul, her, not him), their disabled daughter, one of their sons and his ex-wife and their two children, and twelve cats.  Yes, twelve!  He believes in the succinct, that the small becomes large; and, like the Transcendentalists and William Blake, that the instant contains eternity.  Given his “druthers,” if he’s not writing poetry, Rick would rather still be tailing plywood in a mill in Oregon.

Brian Kayser is a writer who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Brian’s fiction has appeared in 34th Parallel Magazine, Alliterati Magazine, Down Dirty Word, Writing Raw, and Bursting Plethora and forthcoming in The Orris Journal, Bartleby Snopes, The Write Room, Crack the Spine, Shadows Express, and Eunoia Review. He has been editor-in-chief at HipHopGame.com since 2003, where he has interviewed and written about a variety of hip-hop artists. His writings about music have also appeared in The Source and various websites and magazines.

Denny E. Marshall has no art education or training, has never won or been nominated for an award, and has never had art shown in a gallery, public or private. After all the years still enjoys drawing by hand or computer. Has had art & poetry recently rejected and some recently published such as poetry in August 2012 issue of Yes, Poetry, cover art in the April 2012 issue of Eclectic Eel and art in Decades Review #4.

Dan Nawrocki is just this guy, you know? He can be found at http://organminerreviews.wordpress.com/

Afshan Shafi lives in Lahore, Pakistan and has studied English Literature and International Relations at The University of Buckingham and Regent’s college London. She has also worked previously at PEN Pakistan. Her poems have appeared recently in ditch, Inkwell and Quill and Full of Crow.

Alex Strong's poems have appeared in The Aberrant Parade Literary Review, his notebooks, and emails to friends. Recently, he wrote a thesis on early modern science fiction. He lives in Chicago, but has spent a lot of time in Iowa.

Clinton Van Inman - I am 65 and was born in Walton-on-Thames, England and graduated from San Diego State University in 1977 with a degree in philosophy. (Don’t laugh, so did TS Eliot)  Currently, I am still working as a high school teacher in Tampa.  I am one of the few last standing Beat poets. I am trying to get a collection of poems together for future publication called, “Far From Out” or “One Last Beat.” I have had many poems published over the years.  Recent publications include the Tower Journal, Essence, The Warwick, Journal of Victorian Poetry, Yes Poetry, Poetry, Out of Four, and Black Cat Poetry.  Also some of my poems have been recently read on YouTube by Janet K. of Down in the Dirt magazine, which publishes many of my poems.