Ryan Pratt is a contributing writer for Ottawa Poetry Newsletter. Ryan’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Quiddity, Contemporary Verse 2 and (parenthetical), among others. Blog. @deadletterbirds
Laura MacDonald studied English Literature and Playwriting at Concordia University. She has worked as writer, director, stage manager and designer for a number of theatrical productions but still won’t set foot on stage. Her work has been included in Hot Tub Astronaut, In/Words, The Quilliad and (parenthetical).
leaf kotasek is a nonbinary trans* person and their pronouns are “they/them/their.” they grow food with their partner on gabriola island. leaf is a queer, radical peasant. Blog.
Nick Ravo is a poet and experimental writer in Seattle, as well as a former reporter for The New York Times. His creative work has appeared in numerous literary journals in the United States and abroad.
Barbara Harroun is an Assistant Professor at Western Illinois University. Her most recent work is forthcoming or appearing in Circus Book, Empty Sink, Per Contra Fiction, Fiction Southeast, Watershed Review, and Spelk. Her favorite creative endeavors are her awesome kids, Annaleigh and Jack. When she isn’t writing, reading, or teaching, she can be found walking her beloved dog, Banjo, or engaging in literacy activism and radical optimism.
Brian Michael Barbeito is a Canadian poet, writer, and landscape photographer. He has work currently at CV2 The Canadian Journal of Poetry and Critical Writing and is forthcoming at Fiction International in July 2015. Brian is the author of the book Chalk Lines, [FOWLPOX PRESS, cover art by Virgil Kay (2013)].
Bennett Allen lives in New York City.
Bob Brooks’s poetry has been published in many journals including The Beloit Poetry Journal, Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, and Rattle; in four chapbooks, most recently Companion Pieces (Finishing Line Press, 2012); and in the full-length collection Unguarded Crossing (Antrim House Books, 2011), short-listed for the 2012 Maine Literary Award in Poetry, and named first runner-up for the 2012 Eric Hoffer Poetry Book Award.
J.J. Steinfeld is a fiction writer, poet, and playwright living on Prince Edward Island, where he patiently awaits Godot’s arrival and a phone call from Kafka. While waiting, he has published fifteen books, including Disturbing Identities (Stories, Ekstasis Editions), Anton Chekhov Was Never in Charlottetown (Stories, Gaspereau Press), Would You Hide Me? (Stories, Gaspereau Press), An Affection for Precipices (Poetry, Serengeti Press), Misshapenness (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions), A Glass Shard and Memory (Stories, Recliner Books), and Identity Dreams and Memory Sounds (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions). A new short story collection, Madhouses in Heaven, Castles in Hell, is forthcoming in fall 2015 from Ekstasis Editions.
John Lowther’s work appears in the anthologies, The Lattice Inside (UNO Press, 2012) and Another South: Experimental Writing in the South (U of Alabama, 2003). Held to the Letter, co-authored with Dana Lisa Young is forthcoming from Lavender Ink. John works in video, photography, paint and performance. His dissertation-in-progress tries to reimagine psychoanalysis with intersex and transgender lives as pointers toward our ever-expanding subjective potential. Blog.
Kyle Kinaschuk holds a B.A. in English Literature and Philosophy from Mount Royal University, and he is a Ph.D. student in the Department of English at the University of Toronto. His poetry and prose have appeared in journals such as The Capilano Review, filling Station, and FreeFall Magazine.
Lauren Milici pens confessional poetry and believes that the best art is derived from naked honesty. She frequently posts drafts, sketches, and musings at her website, laurenemilici.com.
Megan Evans (published as Megan Janessa) did not give us a bio, but we loved her work!
Naomi Wakan is Nanaimo’s Poet Laureate. Website.
Shloka Shankar is a freelance writer from Bangalore, India. Her poems, visual art, Japanese short-forms like haiku, tanka, and haibun, have appeared in numerous print and online journals and anthologies. Some of her recent publications include Silver Birch Press, Bones, The Rain, Party, & Disaster Society, Poetry WTF?!, and Infinity’s Kitchen. She is also the founding editor of the literary & arts journal, Sonic Boom.
Spenser Smith is a poet, photographer and blogger living in Nanaimo, BC. His work has appeared in text, The Navigator and Portal. He is currently majoring in Creative Writing at Vancouver Island University. He enjoys writing about the prairies and takings photos of waterfalls.