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Anne Anderson

Bird on a Wire – Mr Rainbow author Anne Anderson says;

 ‘Since childhood I’ve been converting hate- mail into poetic verse.  However, today I use all my earlier experiences as fodder for my authorial voice.  I still love to write poetry but enjoy writing short stories and novels.  (No hate-mail, I promise.)  I have been published in Bareback magazine, the British Library and have self-published three novels on amazon. Slut Detox, Slapdash Queen and Calamity’s Calling.  These three quirky novels follow their chaotic protagonists on adventures, as they make sense of their toxic childhoods to overcome sexually exploitation; Slut Detox deals with prostitution, Slapdash Queen – freedom from divorce, Calamity’s Calling – child sexual abuse.  However, you’ll have to read them to discover which one finishes with a happy ending.   For no-one can predict the actions of an empowered autonomous person.   https://amzn.to/36aBnds

Marko Antic

Marko Antic was born on October 11^th 1980 in Paraćin, Serbia. He is an underground poet and writer.  His work is published in the fanzine “Green Horse” and Serbian and regional poetry anthologies.

Sheila Arnold

Sheila Arnold was born and raised in rural West Tennessee into a hard-working tenant farming family. A retired educator, she earned degrees from Union University in Jackson, TN and from the University of Memphis. She now lives in Jackson, TN with her husband, Bobby and their dog, Louie. She is the mother of two and grandmother to six. She is an avid supporter of local artists and an advocate for improving the livability of her community and the literacy and educational opportunities for locals.

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Gen Banks

Gen Banks is an Australian writer of Sri Lankan and Italian heritage, and the mother of two grown children.

As a person living with autism, Gen is passionate about advocating for others on the spectrum; for human and animal rights, environmental sustainability, and mental health awareness.

In addition to writing, Gen enjoys music, art, nature, and spending time with her menagerie of animal companions at her home in tropical Queensland.

Gen has had several works published on the website Compositor, and for the past couple of years has been moderating poetry groups on Facebook. She writes under the names Gen Banks, GenX, GenKu and Gothink Poetry.

Danny P. Barbare

Danny P. Barbare has recently appeared in Plainsongs and North Dakota Quarterly. He attended Greenville Technical College where his poetry won The Jim Gitting’s Award. He lives in the Upstate of the Carolinas where he works as a janitor.

Mark Blickley

Mark Blickley is the author of ‘Sacred Misfits’ (Red Hen Press) and proud member of the Dramatists Guild and PEN American Center. 

Dr. Arthur Broomfield

Dr Arthur Broomfield is a poet and Beckett scholar from County Laois, Ireland. His work has been published in Acumen, Agenda, Orbis, North and in the US, Ireland and India. He has been writing Surrealist poetry for the past two years, inspired by the English surrealist poet Hilda Sheehan and by the writings of Andre Breton.

Katie Boylan

Katie Boylan started writing when she joined Tanya Farrelly’s creative writing group in Purple House Cancer Support in Bray, Co. Wicklow.  Her personal essay ‘Emma’s Wedding’ was included in the Anthology of Short Stories ‘The Music of What Happens’ which was published by New Island Books to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Purple House. 

She lives in Dublin with her two sound housemates, who also happen to be her parents, Basher and Trishie.  In college she completed a BSc in Communications – Film and Broadcasting, but ended up working in advertising to pay the bills, and now works in a Sales House that represents local radio stations all around Ireland.

The creative writing group with Tanya is the highlight of her week but she also enjoys reading, painting, meeting her friends, going to the cinema, red wine, yoga and chocolate.  However, the real love of her life is her black Labrador Rocky.  He arrived as a therapy dog to help her recover after cancer treatment, he has chewed a few couches, eaten a lot of socks and destroyed Basher’s garden, but he’s here to stay.     

Judith Alexander Brice

Judith Alexander Brice is a retired Pittsburgh psychiatrist whose love of nature and experiences with illness inform much of her work. She has had over 80 poems published in journals and anthologies, including in The Golden Streetcar, Voxpopulisphere.com, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Magnolia Review.com, and Annals of Internal Medicine. On two occasions, Judy has twice received the Editor’s Choice Award in The Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize, sponsored by The Paterson Literary Review. Judy has authored two poetry books: Renditions in a Palette and Overhead From Longing published by WordTech Communications (David Robert Books Imprint). A third book, Imbibe The Air is forthcoming next year by the same publisher. Her poem, Mourning Calls, set to music by Tony Manfredonia, can be heard on his web-site: https://www.manfredoniamusic.com/mourning-calls.

Anne Marie Byrne

Anne Marie Byrne has recently retired from working as a student advisor in Dublin City University. She has attended Tanya Farrelly’s creative writing workshops at Purple House in Bray, Co Wicklow where this piece of flash fiction was developed. 

Her research interests include criminology, incarceration, education and the role of drama in prisons.  Her M.Phil thesis (Trinity College, Dublin) focused on the Theatre Project in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin and her Ph.D  (Dublin City University) explored  education for juvenile offenders in Ireland.

Her leisure interests include theatre, photography, reading, travel, cookery, swimming and enjoying nature, especially in her native county Wicklow.

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Lorraine Caputo

Lorraine Caputo is a documentary poet, translator and travel writer. Her works appear in over 180 journals in Canada, the US, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa; and 12 chapbooks of poetry – including Caribbean Nights (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2014), Notes from the Patagonia (dancing girl press, 2017) and On Galápagos Shores (dancing girl press, 2019). She also pens travel pieces, with stories appearing in the anthologies Drive: Women’s True Stories from the Open Road (Seal Press, 2002) and Far Flung and Foreign (Lowestoft Chronicle Press, 2012), and travel articles and guidebooks. In March 2011, the Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada honored her verse. She has done over 200 literary readings, from Alaska to the Patagonia. Ms Caputo journeys through Latin America, listening to the voices of the pueblos and Earth. You may follow her travels at Latin America Wanderer: www.facebook.com/lorrainecaputo.wanderer.  

Steve Carr

Steve Carr, from Richmond, Virginia, has had over 440 short stories published internationally in print and online magazines, literary journals, reviews and anthologies since June, 2016. He has had seven collections of his short stories, Sand, Rain, Heat, The Tales of Talker Knock and 50 Short Stories: The Very Best of Steve Carr, and LGBTQ: 33 Stories, and The Theory of Existence: 50 Short Stories, published. His paranormal/horror novel Redbird was released in November, 2019. His plays have been produced in several states in the U.S. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize twice. He is the founder of Sweetycat Press. His Twitter is @carrsteven960. His website is https://www.stevecarr960.com / 

Mbizo Chirasha

Mbizo CHIRASHA( Time of the Poet Republic Curator)   Author of a Letter to the President. co-Authored Whispering Woes of Ganges and Zambezi. Co-Edited Street Voices Poetry Collection (Germany Africa Poetry Anthology). Co- Editor of the Corpses of Unity Anthology.
Associate Editor at  Diasporia(n) online. Chief Editor at Time of the Poet Republic. Founding Editor at WomaWords Literary Press. Publisher at Brave Voices Poetry journal.  Curator at Africa Writers Caravan. UNESCO-RILA Affiliate Artist at University of Glasgow. 2020 Poet in Residence Fictional Café. 2019 African Fellow, IHRAF.ORG. Project Curator and Co-Editor of the Second Name of Earth is Peace (Poetry Voices Against WAR Anthology). Contributing Essayist to Monk Arts and Soul Magazine.  Poetry and writtings appear in  FemAsia Magazine, Wrath -Bearing Tree, Inksweat andtears journal, One Ghana One Magazine, Ofi Press, World Poetry Almanac, Demer Press, Atunis Galaxy poetry online, IHRAF Publishes, The Poet a Day , Bezine.Com, Sentinel UK, Oxford School of Poetry Pamphlet , Africa Crayons, PulpitMagazine,Poetry Pacific, Zimbolicious, Best New Poets, Poetry Bulawayo, Gramnet webjournal, Diogen Plus, Poeisis.si, Festival de Poesia Medellin and elsewhere .

Stephanie Clark

Stephanie Clark is a Canadian writer abroad, who writes literary fiction of all lengths.  Her short stories have won or placed in several awards and have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  Her work has appeared in Sudden Denouement, Cold Coffee Stand and Literary Taxidermy.  She writes in the silence between words and is a fierce lover of obscure language.

Jack Coey

Jack Coey is a seventy-two-year-old grandfather of two who has experienced most of life’s events, and survived them not only, but without hurting anyone else which he would say was a good life. Writing satisfies him like nothing else and he works as a cashier to eat and writes to love.  

Ken Cumberlidge

62 year-old prize-winning* poet and recovering actor Ken Cumberlidge was born in Birkenhead and cut his performance teeth on the Liverpool pub poetry scene of the 1970s.  His work has appeared variously in print and, more recently, in numerous online journals.  Since 2011 Ken has been based in Norwich, but can be lured out of cover by good company and an open mic – a proclivity that has led him to become an habitué of the fetid underworld that is the slam poetry/spoken word scene.  He likes it.  A lot.

* the prize was a chocolate cake.  He guessed its weight.

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Angelina Der Arakalien

My name is Angelina Der Arakelian and I am a writer and poet. I will be going to University to study Film and English come September. Aspiring to be an author, I spend my spare time writing fiction and poetry which typically contain themes ranging from love to loneliness and prejudice. What motivates me is the state of the world we live in and the means through which art and literature can be used to create a powerful and positive impact on society. There is always something to be inspired from and apply within the fields of art. 

Maurice Devitt

Maurice Devitt, after thirty years plying his trade in the world of Insurance & Banking, decided he wanted to be a poet, so he retired. Now eight years and 200 poems later he has recently published his debut collection, ‘Growing Up in Colour’, with Doire Press.

During those eight years he also completed the MA in Poetry Studies at Mater Dei, won the Trocaire/Poetry Ireland and Poems for Patience competitions, and was placed or shortlisted in many other competitions including The Patrick Kavanagh Award, The Interpreter’s House, Bangor Literary Festival, Over the Edge New Writer of the Year Competition, The Listowel Collection Competition and Cuirt New Writing Award.

Selected for Poetry Ireland Introductions in 2016, his poems have appeared in a significant number of journals, both in Ireland and internationally. He was a featured poet at the Poets in Transylvania Festival in 2015 and a guest speaker at the John Berryman Centenary Conference in both Dublin and Minneapolis. His poems have been nominated for Pushcart, Forward and Best of the Net prizes and his Pushcart-nominated poem, ‘The Lion Tamer Dreams of Office Work’, was the title poem of an anthology published by Hibernian Writers in 2015. He is curator of the Irish Centre for Poetry Studies site.

DC Diamondopolous

DC Diamondopolous is an award-winning novelette, short story, and flash fiction writer with over 225 stories published internationally in print and online magazines, literary journals, and anthologies. DC’s stories have appeared in: 34th Parallel, So It Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, Ball State University, Lunch Ticket, Progenitor, Blue Lake Review, and many others. DC was nominated for Best of the Net Anthology. She lives on the California central coast with her wife and animals. dcdiamondopolous.com

Philip Dunkerley

Philip Dunkerley is an active member of open mic communities in Peterborough and Stamford. He is the Poetry Society representative for the Stamford Stanza and runs a U3A Poetry Group in Bourne, where he lives. His poems have been published in Magma, Orbis, Dream Catcher, The Fenland Reed, Ink Sweat and Tears, Obsessed With Pipework, The Blue Nib, and elsewhere. His translations from Portuguese and Spanish, and poetry reviews, have been published in Orbis. His work has appeared in several anthologies, including Poems for Peace with a forward by Benjamin Zephaniah.

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Theresa C Gaynord

Theresa likes to write about matters of self-inflection and personal experiences. She likes to write about matters of an out-of-body, out-of-mind state, as well as subjects of an idyllic, pagan nature and the occult. Theresa writes horror, as well as concrete gritty and realistic dramas. Theresa is said to be a witch and a poet, (within the horror writing community) and she has been published in a number of magazines, ezines, anthologies and books throughout the years. She is a former elementary school teacher, a psychic medium – reader and advisor.  

Susie Gharib

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.

Pranab Ghosh

Pranab Ghosh is a journalist, writer, poet, translator and blogger. He runs a blog “Existential Problems”.

His poems and prose piece have been published and accepted by Dissident Voice, Spillwords, The Piker Press, Setu Magazine, Pangolin Review, Visual Verse, Memoryhouse Tuck Magazine, Transendent Zero Press, Scarlet Leaf Review, Literature Studio Review, Leaves of Ink, Hans India, etc.

He has coauthored a book of poems, titled Air & Age. He has to his credit a translation of a book of Bengali short stories. The title of the English translation is Bougainvillea and Other Stories. His second book of poems and first solo book “Soul Searching and Other Poems” (2017) has been published by Scarlet Leaf Publishing, Toronto. His third book of poems, Vision of the World and Other Poems, was published by Impspired Publishing and was released in November 2020. He is married and lives in Kolkata with wife, daughter and mother.

Howie Good

Howie Good is the author of THE DEATH ROW SHUFFLE, a poetry collection forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.

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Ceinwen Haydon

Ceinwen Haydon lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. She writes short stories and poetry. She has been widely published in web magazines and print anthologies. She was Highly Commended in the Blue Nib Chapbook Competition [Spring 2018], won the Hedgehog Press Poetry Competition ‘Songs to Learn and Sing’ [August 2018] and was shortlisted for the Neatly Folded Paper Pamphlet Competition, Hedgehog Press [October 2018]. She is a winner in the Nicely Folded Paper Pamphlet Competition (July 2019). Her first Chapbook is due to be published shortly, (‘Cerddi Bach’ [Little Poems], a Stickleback by Hedgehog Press. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University (2017) and she is developing practice as a creative writing facilitator with hard to reach groups. She believes everyone’s voice counts.

Clem Henricson

Clem Henricson is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Honorary Senior Fellow University of East Anglia. She is a writer and philosopher and has directed a public policy institute advising international government on human rights and social relations. Widely published, her philosophical works include Morality and Public Policy, Psychology and the state we’re in and Making Space for Melancholy.   Of  Anglo Swedish heritage, she has written  a North Sea Memoir. She contributes poems regularly to the Poetry Society’s Poetry@3 and has links to The Writer’s Center and Arvon. Her most recent published poem was written during the pandemic – A mid-Covid memory of a funeral as it should be.

Marcus Holmes

Marcus Holmes is a classically trained musician and often draws from his experience in musicianship when writing. His published works include, “Poems of a Spectrum-Autist”, “For All the Marbles”, and the three-part series, “How To Write Poetry: A Tutorial”. He resides in the U.S. with his tabby Solace, who refuses to take dictation and is a terrible speller anyway.

Zoe Siobhan Howarth-Lowe

Zoë has two pamphlets (from Half Moon Books & Hedgehog Press) and her First Collection is forthcoming with Indigo Dreams in 2021. Her work has appeared in various Anthologies and Journals.

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Gerald Jatzek

Gerald Jatzek is a poet and musician from Vienna, Austria, who writes in German and English. He published books for children and adults, short stories, plays for radio and essays. 2001 he got the Austrian State Prize for Children’s Poetry. His books have been translated into Korean and Turkish, his poems have appeared in anthologies and literature  papers in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, the Netherlands and the UK. He runs a facebook page on poetry in several languages at https://www.facebook.com/jatzekpoesie/

Ferris E. Jones

Ferris E Jones is an award-winning, internationally published poet and screenwriter living in Puyallup Washington. His work has appeared in both print and online magazines including as the featured poet for Creative Talents Unleashed. Other magazines include: Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020, Glo Mag, Piker Press, Se La Vie Writers Journal, Write on Magazine, Outlaw Poetry, Degenerate Literature 17, Tuck Magazine, The Literary Hatchet, Warriors with Wings, In Between Hangovers, and many other literary publications. He is the recipient of two grants from the Nevada Arts Council and the Editor/Publisher of Nevada Poets 2009. Ferris has twice received honorable mention awards from Writers Digest annual screenwriting contest. He is also the Author / Editor of seven collections of poetry. You can learn more about Ferris E. Jones by visiting www.inquisitionpoetry.com where each month he features the work of other poets. The goal of this site is to spread the word of poetry throughout the world.

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Nerisha Kemraj

Nerisha Kemraj resides in Durban, South Africa with her husband and two mischievous daughters. While poetry has been a love since high school, she began writing short stories in 2016.
A lover of dark fiction, she has over 150 short stories and poems published in various publications, both print and online. She has also received an Honourable Mention Award for her tanka in the Fujisan Taisho 2019 Tanka Contest. 

Nerisha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Science, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from University of South Africa. 

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Camilla Lambert

Camilla Lambert began writing poetry on retirement in 2007, having had a varied career as a Health Service Senior Manager, a social policy researcher and an Open University tutor-counsellor. In 2013 she gained a First-Class degree in Literature with Creative Writing from the O.U. Her first pamphlet Grapes in the Crater was published by Indigo Dreams Publishing in 2015 and she was Profiled Poet for SOUTH issue 55 in April 2017. Individual poems have been published in Acumen, Poetry Ireland Review, The Interpreter’s House, Agenda, SOUTH, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, The Frogmore Papers, Artemispoetry and The Alchemy Spoon. Poems have also appeared in various anthologies, with a number being placed or highly commended in competitions. She co-organises a small annual Arts Festival in Binsted, near Arundel, West Sussex, and, connected with this, runs a poetry competition for the South Downs Poetry Festival. She is currently working on another collection, when not being an active grandmother, gardener and walker.

Edward Lee

Edward Lee’s poetry, short stories, non-fiction and photography have been published in magazines in Ireland, England and America, including The Stinging Fly, Skylight 47, Acumen and Smiths Knoll.  His debut poetry collection “Playing Poohsticks On Ha’Penny Bridge” was published in 2010. He is currently working towards a second collection.
He also makes musical noise under the names Ayahuasca Collective, Lewis Milne, Orson Carroll, Blinded Architect, Lego Figures Fighting, and Pale Blond Boy.
His blog/website can be found at https://edwardmlee.wordpress.com

CL Liedekev

C.L. Liedekev – US-born poet. Attended life/college in New Jersey, lives in the state next to that state (PA, but won’t spell it). Published in his youth (my 20s) on websites, journals, and zines (which zines lasted more than a week in the 90s) that no longer exist (Death Blossoms, Gnome, TV Religion, Board, Story. The Avant, the Vanguard, etc) and most recently in some that do (Open Skies, The Red Hibiscus). He currently kills time (cliche/find a better word) as a propagandist for a software company (got the job diagraming sentences, executives thought it was magic), getting thrown out of FaceBook Poetry groups (4+), and keeping the ghost of the great poet/exterminator Jack Wiler proud.

Lori R. Lopez

Lori R. Lopez dips her pen in poetry, prose, and art.  A resident of Southern California, the wearer of many hats, she also writes songs and enjoys filmmaking.  Two of her poems were nominated for 2020 Rhysling Awards. Books include The Dark Mister Snark, Darkverse:  The Shadow Hours (nominated for a 2018 Elgin Award), Leery Lane, Odds & Ends:  A Dark Collection, The Witchhunt, and An Ill Wind Blows.  Lori’s verse and prose have appeared in The Horror Zine, Weirdbook, The Sirens Call, Spectral Realms, Space & Time Magazine, Altered Realities, Bewildering Stories, Impspired, Terror Tract, plus a number of anthologies including H.W.A. Poetry Showcases, Dead Harvest, Fearful Fathoms, and California Screamin’ (the Foreword Poem).  She and her talented sons co-own a creative company, Fairy Fly Entertainment.  They have a Folk Band called The Fairyflies.

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Giovanni Mangiante

Giovanni Mangiante is a poet from Lima, Peru. He has work published in Heroin Love Songs, Rat’s Ass Review, Three Rooms Press, Fearsome Critters, The Raven Review, Cajun Mutt Press, Crêpe & Penn, Open Minds Quarterly, and more. In writing, he found a way to cope with BPD.

Robert Mitchell

Robert Mitchell is a working, published musician, film editor and songwriter, living in NYC. Due to the pandemic, Mitchell has redirected his story telling focus towards the adventurousness of short form fiction.
Robert’s stories have very recently been published in: Rejected Manuscripts, The Literary Yard, The Reflex Press, and The Galway Review

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Aminath Neena

Aminath Neena is an English lecturer from the picturesque archipelago nation of the Maldives. Currently, she works at, The Maldives National University. An avid lover of words, poetry is a hobby closest to her heart. Her poems usually revolve around themes such as love, relationships, spirituality, society, human rights and global issues. According to her, poetry is the gateway to spirituality because it resonates purity like no other. Among her achievements include having her poem featured in ‘Words And Music’, a programme on BBC Radio. She believes her writings to be a reflection of her thoughts, her feelings and her life.

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Eamon O’Leary

After taking early retirement, I quickly realised that I needed something more than hacking up the golf course to keep me occupied, so I started writing short stories. An eclectic mix, no particular genre, but no sci-fi. Definitely no sci-fi. I try to include an element of humour in all my stories. To date, they have been published by The Galway Review, Cork Holly Bough, Bandit Fiction, Cafelit, Spillwords, Hammond House, Clarendon House, Grindstone Literary, and Michael Terence Publishing.

The highlight was winning the Southport International Short Story Competition last year.

(I’m still playing terrible golf!)

Abigail Ottley

Abigail Ottley (formerly Wyatt) writes poetry – and some short fiction – from her home in Penzance in Cornwall. Since 2009, her work has appeared in more than 150 journals, magazines and anthologies including The Blue Nib, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Atrium Poetry and Words With Jam. She was also one of the poets featured in Wave Hub: new poetry from Cornwall (2014) edited by Dr Alan M Kent and published by Francis Boutle. In 2019, 12 of her poems were translated into Romanian for Pro Saeculum and Banchetul. For this, much gratitude to translator and bilingual poet, Mariana Gardner. In the same year, Abigail’s poem ‘Bull Male, Sleeping’ was chosen for ‘Poems on the Move’ at the Guernsey Literary Festival. (formerly Wyatt) writes poetry – and some short fiction – from her home in Penzance in Cornwall. Since 2009, her work has appeared in more than 150 journals, magazines and anthologies including The Blue Nib, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Atrium Poetry and Words With Jam. She was also one of the poets featured in Wave Hub: new poetry from Cornwall (2014) edited by Dr Alan M Kent and published by Francis Boutle. In 2019, 12 of her poems were translated into Romanian for Pro Saeculum and Banchetul. For this, much gratitude to translator and bilingual poet, Mariana Gardner. In the same year, Abigail’s poem ‘Bull Male, Sleeping’ was chosen for ‘Poems on the Move’ at the Guernsey Literary Festival.

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Finola Scott

Finola Scott’s work can be found on posters, tapestries and postcards. She is widely published with poems in Ink, Sweat and Tears, The Fenland Reed, Lighthouse, New Writing Scotland. She won the Uist Poetry, Dundee Law, The Blue Nib Chapbook competitions and was runner up in the Coast to Coast pamphlet competition. Stanza Festival commissioned a poem for a multi-media installation. Red Squirrel published her debut pamphlet in October. You can read more on FB Finola Scott Poems.

L. B Sedlacek

L.B. Sedlacek has had poetry and fiction appear in different journals and zines.  Her first short story collection came out on Leap Day 2020 entitled “Four Thieves of Vinegar” published by Alien Buddha Press.  Her latest poetry books are “The Poet Next Door” (Cyberwit), “The Adventures of Stick People on Cars” (Alien Buddha Press), “The Architect of French Fries” (Presa Press) and “Words and Bones” (Finishing Line Press.)  She is a former Poetry Editor for “ESC! Magazine” and co-hosted the podcast “Coffee House to Go.” LB also enjoys swimming, reading, and playing ukulele. 

K.T Slattery

K.T. Slattery was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up just across the state line in Mississippi. A graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, she now lives in the West of Ireland with her husband and an ever-increasing amount of rescue pets.

Keith E. Sparks

Keith E. Sparks Jr. has been writing since a young age. He has had his work published in various literary journals and magazines and in 2004 was nominated for the Pushcart Poetry Prize. More recently he has published two collections of poetry titled “Facets” and “The Doggerel Dog.” Keith is the creator of Open Skies Quarterly, a digital and print publication dedicated to poetic voices, and operates its Facebook presence, Open Skies Poetry group, as an outlet for poets worldwide. Keith resides in West Virginia with his wife and three children whom are the epicenter of his existence.

Steven Stone

I am originally from Flushing, Queens. I went to Queens College and graduated in 1973 with a B.A. in Drama & Theatre. I began writing poetry when I was in high school. Also, I am a painter, starting from about 1969. I have been published in many online magazines and some print magazines.

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Mark Tarren

Mark Tarren is a poet and writer who lives on remote Norfolk Island in the South Pacific.

His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in various literary journals including The New Verse News, The Blue Nib, Poets Reading The News, Street Light Press, Spillwords Press, Tuck Magazine and Impspired Magazine. He is currently working on a collection of poetry and a novel.

Ron Torrence

Ron Torrence published his first short story at age 50 and his first poem at age 80. Even so his fiction, non-fiction and poetry are pretty widely published. He’s also written five novels and a screen play, all unpublished. Much more to do. His work has appeared in American Writer’s Review, Crack The Spine, The Dirty Goat, Dos Passos Review, Existere Journal, Forge, The MacGuffin, Menda City Review, Nassau Review, riverSedge, Orange Willow Review, Slipstream, Eureka Literary Magazine, Oxalis, Ash, Potent Aphrodisiac, Rockhurst Review, The Tower Journal, Thereby Hangs A Tale, Typo, Sour Grapes, Circuit Traces, RE:AL, Reflections Literary Journal, way station magazine, West Wind Review, Wild Violet, Yellow Mama and Pleasant Living.

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Amrita Valan

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 a double take to step back and observe it.

I have written over a thousand poems on genres including, Love, Spirituality, Family, Religion, Current affairs, Human Rights, short stories, humorous pieces, essays as well as funny poems and tales for my children.

I love collecting rocks on my day trips to hills, photographing nature and natural moods. Indulge in taking selfies and decorating them with punk art. Teaching my children how to tell jokes with a dead pan face for maximum impact.

I humbly submit this poem as, to the best of my understanding, a simple lyric may cause a moment of joy and serenity.

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Scott Waters

Scott Waters lives in Oakland, California with his wife and son.  He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.  Scott has published previously in The Blue Nib, The Pacific Review, Loch Raven Review, Adelaide, Better Than Starbucks, A New Ulster, Selcouth Station, The Courtship of Winds, Scarlet Leaf Review, The Pangolin Review, Ink in Thirds, and many other journals.  Scott’s first chapbook will be published by Selcouth Station, and his poem “I Could Be Anybody” has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

Anthony Watts

Anthony Watts has been writing ‘seriously’ for nearly 50 years.  He has had poems published in many magazines and anthologies in addition to five published collections: Strange Gold (KQBX Press, 1991), The Talking Horses of Dreams (Iron Press, 1999), Steart Point & other poems (John Garland, 2009), The Shell Gatherer (Oversteps, 2011) and Stiles (Paekakariki Press, 2019).  He has won the Bedford International Writing Competition 2019, Four Counties Poetry Competition 2015, Lake Aske Memorial Award 1978, the Michael Johnson Memorial Prize 1979, Poetry Pulse Poetry Competition 2015, the S.T. Coleridge Memorial Poetry Prize 2008 and first prizes in competitions run by Rotherham Metro Writers (2001), Preston Writers Guild (2001 & 2002), Christchurch Writers (1993, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007), Norwich Writers (2008),  East Coker Poetry Group (2008), Dillington Poets (1994), Mungrisedale Writers (2013), Poetry Space (2013), Somerset Libraries (2013), Wax Poetry and Art (2017) and the Writers Bureau Limerick Competition (2016).  He was also longlisted in the Arvon Foundation Competition (19820 and the National Poetry Competition (2015). His poems have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and Somerset Sound.  Rural Somerset has been his home for most of his life and he has no plans to leave it.  His main interests in life are poetry, music, binge thinking and messing about outdoors – activities he finds can be happily combined.