I am a housewife from India, mother of two boys, aged 12 and 11. I have a master’s degree in English literature. Till my boys were born I worked in various sectors of BPOs as motor claims and health insurance handler and was also content writer for simulation management entrance examination papers in the field of deductive logic and reasoning in English. I have also worked for a short term in the hospitality industry as a receptionist at a five-star hotel, while awaiting results of my English honours examination.  I love life, like tumbling headfirst into it, and then doing … Continue reading Amrita Valan

Fotoula Reynolds is a retired Education Support Aide. Born in Australia of Greek heritage she lives in the Dandenong Ranges in southern Australia. A writer of poetry, Fotoula finds her inspiration in the nature that surrounds her. Her writing journey began in 2016 and as a latecomer to the art, this means she has accumulated years of stories to tell and is now slowly unravelling them. She convenes a poetry group in her local community and regularly attends and participates in spoken word events in and around the city of Melbourne. Fotoula has authored three previous poetry collections and is … Continue reading Fotoula Reynolds

David is a poet, playwright, lyricist and short story writer from the North West of England. He is a member of the international poetry study group Worldly Worders. He has been published in a number of magazines both on-line and in print. In 2016 his poem ‘Home Straight’ featured at the Fermoy International Festival. The stage play ‘Intervention’ was produced for World Peace Day. The main influences on his writing include; Ted Hughes, Ann Sexton, W. D. Snodgrass, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, James Baldwin, Pablo Neruda and his favourite poet Philip Larkin. His poetry has been published in … Continue reading David Ratcliffe

PJ Grollet began his working life at age ten as a babysitter and then ditch digger. From there he graduated to packing houses, an interlibrary loan department, the front desk of a resort, and bail bonds. He currently sells money and surfs the dream cycles. He’s the scribe for the five-volume series, The Book of Dreams and has been published in Horror Sleaze Trash. putting a gun in your mouth twice daily my dad sat in his favorite chair and scooped spoonfuls of strawberry ice cream into his mouth as he watched the conservative news channel. an advertisement played on … Continue reading PJ Grollet

Susie Gharib is a graduate of the University of Strathclyde with a Ph.D. on the work of D.H. Lawrence. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in multiple venues including Adelaide Literary Magazine, The Curlew, The Ink Pantry, A New Ulster, Down in the Dirt, the PLJ, and Mad Swirl. High Critics and the Body-Snatchers of Literature Adapted for television FADE IN: INT.  LIBRARY – PICCADILY – NIGHT Gilbert is playing Chopin on the piano and Ernest is looking at a memoir entitled Reminiscences.                   GILBERT       What are you laughing at?                   ERNEST       An amusing story in this book.                   … Continue reading Susie Gharib

Mark Pearce is a Pushcart Prize nominee with stories published in literary journals, magazines, and anthologies and plays produced on the New York stage.  His first published story was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and was selected as Granfalloon magazine’s “Story of the Year.” “Sideshow” At the back of the tent stood a short, three-legged wooden stool. On the stool sat a midget; his age was indeterminate, the misty middle-age between forty and fifty-five. Thin wisps of hair lay flat across a balding scalp. The feature which had earned him his job was a lack of arms. He had hands, … Continue reading Mark Pearce

John Sheirer lives in Western Massachusetts and is in his 30th year of teaching at Asnuntuck Community College in Northern Connecticut where he edits Freshwater Literary Journal (submission welcome). His work has appeared recently in Wilderness House Literary Review, Meat for Tea, Poppy Road Review, Synkroniciti, Otherwise Engaged, 10 By 10 Flash Fiction, The Journal of Radical Wonder, Scribes*MICRO*Fiction, and Goldenrod Review. His latest book is Stumbling Through Adulthood: Linked Stories. Find him at JohnSheirer.com. The Path As the station wagon glided along the blacktop, seven-year-old Andy gazed out the backseat window. “I love how the road follows this path … Continue reading John Sheirer

Michael Igoe, city boy, neurodiverse, Chicago now Boston. Numerous works appear in journals and anthologies (available at amazon.com, lulu.com, barnesandnoble.com). Regular contributor to Spare Change News (Cambridge MA) and feversofthemindpress.com. Instructor at Boston University Center for Psych Rehab. Twitter: MichaelIgoe5: poetry-in-motion.org  They Made Their Way                                         If animals are rabid by our calculations, somehow required, is restrained action. They remain in line with uniform belief. Lives that pass swiftly In a feeling of release: locating the cigarettes in the half empty pack. Their polka dot women walked on the parkland. They turned heads they needi to see, the coast is clear. … Continue reading Michael Igoe

Robert Fleming lives in Lewes, DE. Published in United States, Canada, England, Ireland, and Australia. Member of the Rehoboth Beach and Horror Writer’s Association. 2022 winner of San Gabriel Valley CA broadside-1 poem, 2021 winner of Best of Mad Swirl poetry and double nominated for Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Follow Robert at https://www.facebook.com/robert.fleming.5030. we were before waring we wore hair keratin like baboons & knocked our chests like gorillas we wore skin like zebras & bent-over to water like wilder-beasts we wore muscle like lions & paw swatted flies like bears we wore bones like swine & dug … Continue reading Robert Fleming

Shaun O Ceallaigh is a freelance writer from the Republic of Ireland. His stories have been published or are forthcoming in the journals Crannóg, Tir Na nÓg, and Howl. The Hungry Publican Proprietor of the Corner Bar, James Leary, parked his Landrover, lumbered into the pale morning light, and crossed the street. He unlocked the pub’s front door and stepped inside. As was the case every morning, the metallic stench of stale porter soaked the air. When he raised the blinds, the mess from the previous night lit up: smeared pint glasses gathered on the bar; off-target peanuts and crisps … Continue reading Shaun O Ceallaigh