KRISTY BOWEN

Raised among the corn fields and river glens of northern Illinois, Kristy Bowen studied English and Theater at Rockford College before receiving an M.A. in Literature from DePaul University. Her literary passions include women's writing, erotica, mythology, and 20's & 30's Paris, all of which dominate her bookshelves and devour her time. For the past two years, she's been settled in on the north side of Chicago, working in the library of an arts college to support her writing habit and foster her reading addiction.

Her work has appeared in over 30 print and online journals, including Moon Journal, Blue Fifth, Stirring, and Verse Libre. A chapbook, The Archaeologist's Daughter is forthcoming from Moon Journal Press. She's given readings in a number of venues, including Evanston Public Library, Myopic Books, Chicago Public Library, Garfield Park Conservatory, and the Chicago Poetry Fest. This fall, Bowen is beginning work in the MFA in Poetry program at Columbia College.

Also a book critic, her reviews have appeared in Midwest Book Review, Curled Up With A Good Book, Women Writers, and New Works Review. She was formerly editor of the 20th Century Women Authors topic at Suite101.com and currently edits and publishes the online literary zine, Wicked Alice. She recently launched Wicked Pen Publications.

She can be contacted at: wickedpen74@lycos.com

FRED & LARA ELLIS

Fred and Lara Ellis are photographers living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Their photography is available for sale from galleries throughout Virginia. They also do portraits on request.

They can be contacted at: mindseys@shentel.net

Sean Donahue is a poet and activist living in Lawrence, MA

He can be contacted at: wrldhealer@yahoo.com

www.queenofpaintings.com

Radames Ortiz is the author of a chapbook of poems, Between Angels & Monsters. Founding editor of Coyote Magazine: Bringing Literature and Art Across Borders and former editor of the Bayou Review, the literary journal for the University of Houston Downtown. His work has appeared in numerous publications including, Exquisite Corpse, Pacific Review, Gulf Coast, The Amherst Review, and Borderlands. Winner of the 2000 Fabian Worsham award for Poetry and fellowships from the Bucknell Seminar for Younger Poets at Bucknell University and Voices Writing Workshop at the University of San Francisco. He is also a recipient of a 2002 Individual Artist Grant from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County. He currently resides in Houston, TX where he is Marketing Associate for Arte Publico Press 

He can be contacted at radames_o@hotmail.com 

Lilith is a poet and painter living in the storybook forests of Pennsylvania. She is also a Child Advocate and psychology student. When she has time to actually make a living, she trains dogs and works as an exotic dancer.

She can be reached through The Divine Animal. All correspondence will be forwarded to her by the editor. 

CHERYL A. TOWNSEND

Cheryl (Cat) Townsend is the retiring editor of the literary journal Impetus and widely published poet and artist.

She can be contacted at impetus@aol.com

Rae Weaver is Poetry Editor for the Erotica Readers and Writers Assoc. She currently lives in the U.S. Virginia where she's tolerated by two cats, a gaggle of ferrets and her family. Being a bit of a book addict, she tries to curb her spending by making frequent trips to the library. Among her interests she includes: facilitating sex-ed workshops, randomly trying her hand at various hobbies and tribal drumming.

Rae's poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in various online and print publications including Poems Niederngasse, Gin Bender, Lotus Blooms Journal, Dead Mule, Carnelian, Erosha, Wicked Alice, Saucyvox.com and ERWA.

She can be contacted at raew@cox.net  

John Yates lives as far back in the woods as he can at the edge of the Allegheny National Forest in northwestern Pennsylvania. He also has lived in very remote areas of Montana, Ontario and Alaska. His writing often is based on the power of nature to heal and transform people, and of eros as the symbol and expression of transformation and a healthy and vibrant sense of self and life. "Who I am sexually, is who I am," he said. His favorite writers include Walt Whitman, Henry Miller, Linda Hogan, Terry Tempest Williams and Lenore Kandel. He trains dogs for a living, likes to get his hands in the dirt, often is off the wall, and values intimacy and sharing in human relationships. "If you are going to be alive," he says, "do it to excess. Live, love, celebrate life and be overwhelmed by the beauty around you."

He can be contacted at standingrock814@hotmail.com