Dan Beachy-Quick is a poet, essayist, and translator. His most recent book is Elements & Offerings (Louisiana State University Press, 2026).

Noah Boehm is a freshman at John Carroll University, a small college in Cleveland, Ohio.

Matthew Breit is an award-winning digital producer and multi-genre writer whose work frequently explores death, myth, depth psychology, technology, and mysticism. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Penn State University and an M.F.A. in Fiction from Kent State and the NEOMFA.

Jeff Burt lives in Santa Cruz County, California. He has contributed to River Styx Magazine, Lowestoft Chronicle, Gold Man Review, and others. He won the 2016 Consequence Magazine Fiction Prize.

Tameka Cage Conely’s poetry has been published in Ploughshares, Callaloo, River Styx, The Iowa Review, African American Review, and elsewhere. She received her Ph.D. in English at Louisiana State University and M.F.A. in Fiction Writing at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Cage Conely is an Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at the Oxford College of Emory University. She is currently at work on a novel and debut poetry collection.

s. clark (she/they) is a transgender poet, artist, and educator based out of Akron, Ohio. She holds a B.A. in English from Kent State University. Her work has been featured in CrayfishMag as well as Light Enters the Grove (Kent State University Press, 2024). They live with their loving partner and four cats.

Lindsay Collier is a writer and educator living in Akron, Ohio. She teaches at Kent State University, working at the University Press, Poetry Center, and Writing Commons. Her work is shaped by the landscapes of Northeast Ohio. She finds inspiration in the ordinary and mundane moments of life, reminding her that paying attention is an act of care. When not teaching or writing, Lindsay can be found running down sidewalks, attempting to sketch oranges or reading anything she can get her hands on.

Matthew Cooperman is the author of, most recently, the atmosphere is not a perfume it is odorless (Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, 2024) and Wonder About The, winner of the Halcyon Prize (Middle Creek, 2023), as well as NOS (disorder, not otherwise specified) with Aby Kaupang (Futurepoem, 2018), Spool, winner of the New Measure Prize (Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, 2016), and other books. His ninth book, Time, & Its Monument, is forthcoming from Station Hill Press. A Founding Editor of the exploratory prose journal Quarter After Eight, Cooperman is Co-Poetry Editor for Colorado Review, and Professor of English at Colorado State University. He lives in Fort Collins with his wife, the poet Aby Kaupang, and their children. More info at http://matthewcooperman.org.

Cheryl Denise likes to think of herself as a disco dancing shepherdess. She lives in rural WV in the intentional community of Shepherds Field. She is the author of three books of poetry published by Cascadia Publishing House, LLC. Cheryl’s poems are included in Porch Poems (2023), a unique collaborative chapbook featuring four well-known WV poets, published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. She was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Caleb Edmondson (he/him/his) lives in Columbus, Ohio. He recently received his M.F.A. from Bowling Green State University, where he served as an associate editor for the Mid-American Review. His words can be found in Strange Horizons, Bending Genres, and Black Lily Zine, among others.

Elizander Espenschied is a poet and musician from Cleveland, Ohio, who studied English & American Literature at NYU. He carries his poems in his backpack despite having some published by Tyger Quarterly, The Weasel, The Greene Street Review, and The Minetta Review.  It is currently studying poetry at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and providing vocals for Savage Little Suckers, but also hosts radio shows, shoots 35mm film, and enjoys creating lists in threes.

Tresha Faye Haefner’s poetry appears, or is forthcoming, in several journals and magazines, most notably Blood Lotus, Blue Mesa Review, The Cincinnati Review, Five South, Hunger Mountain, Mid-America Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, Radar, Rattle, TinderBox and Up the Staircase Quarterly. Her work has garnered several accolades, including the 2011 Robert and Adele Schiff Poetry Prize, and a 2012, 2020, and 2021 nomination for a Pushcart. Her first manuscript, Pleasures of the Bear, was a finalist for prizes from both Moon City Press and Glass Lyre Press. It was published by Pine Row Press under the title When the Moon Had Antlers in 2023.  Find her at www.thepoetrysalonstack.substack.com.

Taylour Johnson is currently working towards her master’s degree in Library and Information Science at Kent State University. When she’s not writing or working, she enjoys crocheting or a good walk in the woods.

Scott Kenimond is a graduate student and TA in his second year of the NEOMFA at The University of Akron. He writes poetry, creative nonfiction, flash and micro fiction, and even dabbles in photography. Scott aims to graduate in the spring of 2027 and dreams of becoming a real English professor at The University of Akron (much like Pinocchio dreams boy becoming a real boy). He believes one day he will be as big as his idol Madonna—if not already.

Ben Kline lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. A poet, information professional, and Madonna mega-fan/podcaster, Ben is the author of It Was Never Supposed to Be (Variant Literature), Twang (ELJ Editions), and Stiff Wrist (fourteen poems). His work has appeared in Copper Nickel, Florida Review, Palette Poetry, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and other publications.

Hannah Loeb is a poet and teacher based in Charlottesville, VA. A post-doctoral fellow at the University of Virginia, where she recently earned her Ph.D. in English, she also has a B.A. from Yale University and an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. In addition to a limited-edition chapbook, Meats I Remember, published through the Baltimore-based press Lines + Stars, her poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines and journals, including The Moth, Oxford Poetry, Booth, Ninth Letter, Prodigal, Gasher, Plainsongs, MAYDAY, and Digging Through the Fat.

Mita Mahato is a comix artist and poet whose work joins fragments of used and discarded materials in poetic experiments that dramatize ecosystemic survival against capitalism. Her books are Arctic Play (The 3rd Thing, 2024) and In Between (Pleiades, 2017), and her poetry comix have appeared in places including PRISM, Ecotone, Shenandoah, Iterant, ANMLY, and Drunken Boat.

Lindsey Maple works as the Associate Editor of Rubbertop Review. She is a third-year Fiction candidate in the NEOMFA program, and she teaches English Composition at the University of Akron. Lindsey is working on her currently unnamed thesis which explores themes of girlhood, youth, loneliness, and jealousy. You can find her on Instagram: @lindseymaple. 

Rob McClure’s poetry has appeared in Irish Pages, Subtropics, New Writing Scotland, Poetry Birmingham, An,thropocene, Flyway, Orbis, and other magazines. He won the McCash Poetry Competition in 2025. He is the author of The Scotsman (Black Springs Press, 2024). 

Ella Medicus, b. 1992,  Kent, Ohio, received a B.F.A. from Alfred University in 2015. She currently lives and works in Akron.

Julianne Metzger Taylor is a multi-genre writer and NEOMFA student at Kent State University. She has been published in The Raven Review, Navy Pen Literary Magazine, and elsewhere.

Corey Miller’s writing has appeared in Salt Hill, Booth, Pithead Chapel, Smokelong Quarterly, X-R-A-Y, and elsewhere. He has received support from Literary Cleveland’s Breakthrough Residency, Vermont Studio Center, and the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. Follow him on BlueSky: @IronBrewer, Instagram: @IronBrewed, or at www.CoreyMillerWrites.com.

David Milley’s work appears in 3rd Wednesday, RFD Magazine, Friends Journal, Neologism Poetry Journal, and Halfway Down the Stairs. David lives in southern New Jersey with his husband, Warren Davy, who’s made his living as a farmer, woodcutter, nurseryman, auctioneer, beekeeper, and cook. These days, Warren tends his garden and keeps honeybees. David walks and writes.

Matthew Olzmann is the author of three collections of poetry, most recently Constellation Route (Alice James Books). He teaches at Dartmouth College.

Caryl Pagel is the author of four books of poetry and prose, most recently Free Clean Fill Dirt (University of Akron Press). She teaches at Cleveland State University and in the NEOMFA program and was the 2025 Lorine Niedecker Fellow.

Taylor Patterson

Elim Pilet is a graduate from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. They are from Geneva, New York but currently live in Iowa City. They have previously been published in Seneca Review and Apocalypse Confidential.

Trinity Pote is primarily a printmaking artist who also dabbles in mixed media. Born in Riga, Latvia, Pote became a naturalized citizen as a baby, with her mom indulging her in Eastern European culture and her dad being in the Navy. She continually explores the layers of one’s inner perception and outer “real world” they exist within, and how these two facets intersect and build upon each other. In this, Pote explores the grey areas of being. Life has never been a series of boxes, and in her work, she strives to explore that endless in-between.

Tiziana Rasile was born in Rome where she lives and works. She completed her course of study at the Academy of Fine Arts. During her career she has participated in numerous international events, such as the Exhibition at the Quirinale Complex (Rome), the Art Exhibition at the Venanzo Crocetti Museum (Rome), at the Echo’s Studio in San Paulo (Brazil) and more. She is present in the Private Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Praia a Mare, Italy. The artist is featured in the Artist’s Book - Library of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome. She is represented by the Laura. I Gallery in London.

Dimitri Reyes is a Puerto Rican multidisciplinary artist, content creator, and educator from Newark, New Jersey. He has been named one of The Best New Latinx Authors of 2023 by LatinoStories.com for his most recent book, Papi Pichón (Get Fresh Books, 2023) which was a finalist for the Omnidawn chapbook contest and the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize. His other books include Every First and Fifteenth, the winner of the Digging Press 2020 Chapbook Award, and the poetry journal Shadow Work for Poets.

Christina Roc (she/her) is a poet from Staten Island, New York, that takes pride in looking at everything “sideways.” She currently holds a B.A. in English (and Theatre) from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Carly Sachs is the author of the steam sequence (Washington Writers’ Publishing House, 2006) and Descendants of Eve (Blue Lyra Press, 2020). She is the editor of the why and later (Deep Cleveland Press, 2007), a collection of poems about rape and assault. Her poems and stories have been included in The Best American Poetry series and read on NPR’s Selected Shorts. Recent work has appeared in the Jewish Book Council’s Witnessing series, The Mid-Atlantic Review, Three Fold, and on the At the Well blog. This summer she attended the Yetzirah Poetry Conference. When not writing, you can find Carly teaching yoga or baking with her daughter. She works as a librarian at a Montessori school in Lexington, Kentucky.

Rikki Santer’s poems have appeared in various publications, including Ms. Magazine, Poetry East, Heavy Feather Review, Slab, Slipstream, [PANK], Crab Orchard Review, RHINO, Grimm, Hotel Amerika, and The Main Street Rag. Santer’s work has received many honors, including 2023 Ohio Poet of the Year, Pushcart, Ohioana and Ohio Poet book award nominations, as well as a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Santer’s collection, Resurrection Letter, was Grand Prize short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and Santer’s most recent collection, Shepherd’s Hour, won the Paul Nemser Book Prize from Lily Poetry Review Books.

María Santoyo is a counselor trainee and writer. She enjoys playing in the snow and spending time with loved ones.

Gerard Sarnat is an eighty-year-old late-phase often graphic chronicler arrived in seventh decade, aphorist, humorist or sometimes meanderist. He is a multiple prize winner plus Pushcart/Best of Net Award nominee who also has been invited to serve as a judge for various competitions. His words have been widely published in four collections (Homeless Chronicles: from Abraham to Burning Man, Disputes, 17s, Melting the Ice King) and by Rattle, Gargoyle, Main Street Rag, and many more. He’s a Harvard College and Medical School-trained physician, Stanford professor, and healthcare CEO. Currently, he’s devoting energy and resources to dealing with climate justice, serving on Climate Action Now’s board. Gerry belongs to the longest-running U.S. Jewish-Palestinian dialogue group. He’s been married since 1969 and has three kids, seven grandsons — and looks forward to future granddaughters. gerardsarnat.com

Anya Simms

Sasha Steensen is the author of six books of poetry: A Magic Book, The Method, House of Deer (all from Fence Books), Gatherest (Ahsahta Press), Everything Awake (Shearsman Press), and Well (Parlor Press). She is currently at work on a hybrid project, Overland, that documents the seizure, and subsequent development, of hundreds of acres of Native American land in Northern Colorado. This ongoing, interactive project can be viewed here: https://www.sashasteensen.com/overland.  She teaches undergraduate and graduate literature and creative writing classes at Colorado State University, where she was named a Stern Distinguished Professor.

Clayton Tarantino is a fiction writer and occasional poet living in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he works as a copywriter. His creative work explores apathy, masculinity, and cruelty through humor and absurdity. He is currently applying to graduate schools, hoping to earn his M.F.A. in Creative Writing.

Mercy Tempest Turle is a poet/educator/bearded lady from Cleveland, Ohio. Her work often explores language, gender, and consciousness through Midwestern images and Buddhist schools of thought. Mercy serves as the managing editor of Dead End Editions and the lead editor of Plum City/Crooked River. Their poetry and prose can be found in CrayfishMag, Fruitslice, Poetry is a Team Sport, and elsewhere.